Open Access
Review
Table 4
Examples of triaging spine surgery in the COVID-19 era [44].
| Level | Surgical Spine Pathologies | Recommendations |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Cervical or thoracic myelopathy (symptomatic; disc herniations, infections, tumor burden) | Proceed with surgical intervention at hospital location. |
| Level 2 | Acute or subacute lumbar disc herniations (up to 6 weeks) with intractable pain | Proceed with surgical intervention at ambulatory surgical center (ASC) versus consider at hospital facility if low COVID-19 census. |
| Level 3 | Compression fracture (without neurologic deficits) | Defer surgery or reconsider risks versus benefits of continued conservative management. |
| Consider course of steroid therapy (injection or oral). | ||
| Odontoid fractures in elderly will be managed conservatively, with option of treating symptomatic nonunion surgically in future. |
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