No Difference in Short-Term Surgical Outcomes from Semaglutide Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus after Cervical Decompression and Fusion: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of semaglutide treatment for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) on the risk of short-term (<6 months) postoperative complications in patients undergoing primary cervical spine decompression and fusion (CSDF).
Summary of Background Data: Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, is gaining popularity as a weekly injectable medication for the treatment of T2DM and obesity. Existing research indicates that higher levels of HbA1c and obesity are linked to fewer positive results after undergoing spine surgery, particularly cervical decompression and fusion. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of publications evaluating the influence of semaglutide therapy on surgical complications, including surgical site infection, wound complications, and reoperation within 6 months, which were aggregated into a composite measure.
Methods: The PearlDiver Database was queried from January 2010 to December 2021 for patients with a primary diagnosis of T2DM who underwent CSDF for degenerative pathology. Patients with semaglutide treatment within 6 months before index surgery were propensity score-matched to patients without the treatment, employing age, gender, and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) as matching covariates. A multivariate regression model was used to investigate the impact of semaglutide treatment on postoperative surgical complications.
Results: The propensity score-matched cohort included 596 patients (semaglutide cohort: 298, control cohort: 298). There were no statistically significant differences between cohorts in the composite measure of postoperative surgical complications following index CSDF (OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.83-1.93, P=0.331). Similarly, both 30-day (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.49-1.42, P=0.589) and 90-day readmission rate (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.56-1.42, P=0.724) were similar between both cohorts.
Conclusion: This study suggests that in patients with T2DM, semaglutide treatment is not associated with higher rates of short-term adverse events after CSDF. The effect of semaglutide use on long-term outcomes remains unknown.
Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
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