A new study published in the journal Anesthesiology reports the risk of blindness from spinal fusion surgeries has dropped almost three-fold since the late 1990s.
According to researchers, about 480,000 spinal fusions are performed in the U.S. annually, with an incidence of blindness placed between one-in-1,000 and one-in-10,000. Researchers examined nationwide inpatient data from 1998 to 2012 looking at those who developed ischemic optic neuropathy either during or after spinal fusion surgery, and found over that time span the risk decreased 2.7 fold or 60 percent.
The researchers believe changes in anesthesia practice may also be driving the decrease in risk of blindness — a stricter limit for how low anesthesiologists allow blood pressure to drop during surgery may help reduce the risk for ischemic optic neuropathy.
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Source: The University of Illinois at Chicago