Intraoperative neuromonitoring predicts postoperative deficits in severe pediatric spinal deformity patients

Purpose To evaluate intraoperative monitoring (IOM) alerts and neurologic deficits during severe pediatric spinal deformity surgery. Methods Patients with a minimum Cobb angle of 100° in any plane or a scheduled vertebral column resection (VCR) with minimum 2-year follow-up were prospectively evaluated ( n = 243). Preoperative, immediate postoperative, and 2-year postoperative neurologic status were reported. Radiographic data included preoperative and 2-year postoperative coronal and sagittal Cobb angles and deformity angular ratios (DAR). IOM alert type and triggering event were recorded. SRS-22r scores were collected preoperatively and 2-years postoperatively. Results IOM alerts occurred in 37% of procedures with three-column osteotomy ( n = 36) and correction maneuver ( n = 32) as most common triggering events. Patients with IOM alerts had greater maximum kyphosis (101.4° vs. 87.5°) and sagittal DAR (16.8 vs. 12.7) ( p < 0.01). Multivariate regression demonstrated that sagittal DAR independently predicted IOM alerts (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02–1.08) with moderate sensitivity (60.2%) and specificity (64.8%) using a threshold value of 14.3 ( p < 0.01). IOM alerts occurred more frequently in procedures with new postoperative neurologic deficits (17/24), and alerts with both SSEP and TCeMEP signals were associated with new postoperative deficits ( p < 0.01). Most patients with new deficits experienced resolution at 2 years (16/20) and had equivalent postoperative SRS-22r scores. However, patients with persistent deficits had worse SRS-22r total score (3.8 vs. 4.2), self-image subscore (3.5 vs. 4.1), and function subscore (3.8 vs. 4.3) ( p ≤ 0.04). Conclusion Multimodal IOM alerts are associated with sagittal kyphosis, and predict postoperative neurologic deficits. Most patients with new deficits experience resolution of their symptoms and have equivalent 2-year outcomes. Level of evidence II.