Semaglutide utilization associated with reduced ninety-day postoperative complications following single-level posterior lumbar fusion for patients with type II diabetes.

Background context: Semaglutide (the active agent in medications such as Ozempic) has emerged as an increasingly popular medication in the management of diabetes due to its superior clinical efficacy compared with other medications. Patients undergoing surgery, such as posterior lumbar fusion (PLF), may be on these medications for type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). While the correlation of T2DM with inferior PLF outcomes is known, considering the potential impact of semaglutide on the odds of postoperative complications has not previously been characterized.

Purpose: To investigate the potential correlation of semaglutide on 90-day postoperative adverse events following single-level PLF for those with T2DM who are or are not concurrently taking insulin.

Study design/setting: A retrospective cohort study utilizing the 2010 to Q2 2022 M161Ortho PearlDiver Mariner Patient Claims Database.

Patient sample: T2DM patients (with or without concurrent insulin use) undergoing single-level PLF (with or without interbody fusion) were identified using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. Exclusion criteria included: patients less than 18 years of age, those undergoing concurrent cervical, thoracic, anterior, or multilevel fusion procedures, and those with trauma, neoplasm, or infection diagnosed within three months of surgery.

Outcome measures: Incidence of 90-day aggregated any, severe, and minor adverse events (AAE, SAE, and MAE, respectively), emergency department (ED) visits, and hospital readmissions.

Methods: Patients with a prior diagnosis of T2DM not using insulin (T2DM-insulin) and T2DM concurrently using insulin (T2DM+insulin) undergoing PLF were identified. Patients within each group who utilized semaglutide in the year prior to surgery were identified and matched 1:4 with nonsemaglutide T2DM-insulin and nonsemaglutide T2DM+insulin patients, respectively, based on age, sex, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (ECI), obesity, tobacco use, metformin use, and sodium-glucose transport protein 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) use. The incidence of 90-day adverse events between groups was compared by univariate and multivariate analyses. Bonferroni correction was utilized to reduce the risk of type I error.

Results: Of all T2DM patients undergoing PLF, semaglutide use was noted for 227 (0.73%) of T2DM-insulin patients, and 244 (2.17%) of T2DM+insulin patients. Once matched, there were 191 and 148 in the semaglutide groups, respectively. For the PLF T2DM-insulin analysis, those using semaglutide were at significantly lower odds of AAE (odds ratio [OR] 0.43), MAE (OR 0.45), and ED visits (OR 0.34) (p<.001 for all), but not of SAEs or readmissions. For the PLF T2DM+insulin analysis, those using semaglutide were at significantly lower odds of AAE (OR 0.40, p<.001), SAE (OR 0.43, p=.004), MAE (OR 0.34, p<.001), and ED visits (OR 0.26, p<.001), but not readmissions.

Conclusions: The current study found consistent reductions in aggregated 90-day adverse events, but similar odds of hospital readmission for T2DM patients undergoing PLF taking semaglutide preoperatively. These encouraging findings of reduced postoperative complications suggest further prospective analysis, as the observed findings suggest clinical benefit to semaglutide being utilized by the studied patient population.