Impact of a Specialized Outpatient Clinic on Bone Metastasis and Its Burden on Spine Surgeons

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Impact of a Specialized Outpatient Clinic on Bone Metastasis and Its Burden on Spine Surgeons Via In vivo (Athens, Greece) In Vivo. 2021 Nov-Dec;35(6):3575-3579. doi: 10.21873/invivo.12661. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND/AIM: It is important to perform early intervention on bone metastases using multidisciplinary approaches, however it is difficult to hold frequent meetings between patients and clinicians. We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of a specialized outpatient clinic on bone metastasis, instead of the multidisciplinary approach currently in practice. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We included 31 patients with vertebral metastases of various carcinomas, undergoing surgical treatment by spine surgeons. We divided the patients into two groups before and after their visit to the specialized outpatient clinic (pre and post groups), and compared their clinical characteristics. RESULTS: The post group demonstrated a longer period from consulting the spine surgeon to the surgery than the pre group (p=0.0129). A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed t hat the period from spine surgeon consultation to surgery was significantly associated with a specialized outpatient clinic visit (p=0.0460). CONCLUSION: Specialized outpatient clinics on bone metastasis could possibly reduce the burden on spinal surgeons. PMID:34697197 | DOI:10.21873/invivo.12661 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.