Patients with fusion cage subsidence after spinal fusion surgery have higher VBQ scores:a systematic review and meta-analysis
YANG Hao
HE Ping
LIAO Hong-lin
CHEN Guang-bin
QU Bo
YANG Hong-sheng
LIU Hao
Abstract：Objective To investigate the effectiveness of MRI based Vertebral Bone Quality(VBQ)score in predicting fusion cage subsidence after spinal fusion surgery.Methods This study searched PubMed,Embase,Web of Science,China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),and China Biomedical Literature Database(CBM)for relevant literature from March 13,2022 to the latest date.Through strict screening,14 articles that met the criteria were included,involving 2086 patients.Meta analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 12.0 software.Results Data analysis showed that higher VBQ scores were significantly associated with an increased risk of postoperative fusion device subsidence(MD=0.72,95%CI:0.58-0.85),further validating the predictive value of VBQ scores.However,there was significant heterogeneity among the studies(I2=81.0%,P<0.000 01),and heterogeneity decreased after subgroup analysis(I2=48.7%,P=0.08),indicating that heterogeneity may mainly come from different surgical methods.Patients with high VBQ scores are prone to internal fixation loosening or poor fusion,leading to revision surgery.A higher VBQ score is an important predictive factor for the settlement of the fusion cage after spinal fusion surgery.Conclusions A higher VBQ score is significantly associated with the risk of fusion cage subsidence after spinal fusion surgery,and VBQ score can be used as an independent predictor of fusion cage subsidence after spinal fusion surgery.
Keywords：Spinal FusionPostoperative complicationsVertebral bone quality
Publication Date：2025-10-19
Online Publishing Date：2025-11-06(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：10( 880-889 )