FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The use of the analgesic ketorolac (Toradol) does not affect fusion rates after spinal fusion surgery, researchers report in the Sept. 1 issue of Spine.
Ben B. Pradhan, M.D., from the Risser Orthopaedic Group in Pasadena, Calif., and colleagues reviewed the medical records of 405 patients who underwent primary lumbar posterolateral intertransverse process fusion with pedicle screw instrumentation, of whom 228 received ketorolac for 48 hours after surgery.
After a minimum follow-up of 24 months, the researchers found that similar percentages of patients in the ketorolac and non-ketorolac groups developed pseudarthrosis, also known as nonunions (5.3 versus 6.2 percent, respectively). The investigators also report that significantly more patients in the non-ketorolac group received an autogenous iliac crest bone graft (86.4 versus 54.8 percent, respectively).
"Use of ketorolac after spinal fusion surgery in humans, limited to 48 hours after surgery for adjunctive analgesia, has no significant effect on ultimate fusion rates," Pradhan and colleagues conclude.
Abstract
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