Table 4.
Baseline comorbidities, hospital parameters, and outcomes across term (≥37 weeks), and moderate-to-late prematurity (MLP, 32 ≤ x < 37 weeks), very premature (VP, 28 ≤ x < 32 weeks), and extremely premature (EP, <28 weeks). Bold values are statistically significant (p < 0.05).
| Term | Moderate-to-Late Premature | Very Premature | Extremely Premature | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Patients | 5099 | 250 | 101 | 81 | |
| Baseline Comorbidities | |||||
| Neuromuscular Disorder | 14.5% | 23.2% | 35.6% | 44.4% | <0.001 |
| Asthma | 7.3% | 10.0% | 12.9% | 19.8% | <0.001 |
| Chronic Lung Disease | 1.6% | 4.8% | 4.0% | 19.8% | <0.001 |
| Structural Pulmonary/Airway Abnormalities | 3.0% | 6.8% | 4.0% | 9.9% | <0.001 |
| Esophageal/GI Disease | 5.4% | 12.4% | 14.9% | 23.5% | <0.001 |
| Previous Cardiac Surgery | 2.2% | 7.2% | 8.9% | 7.4% | <0.001 |
| Seizure Disorder | 5.0% | 9.6% | 22.8% | 21.0% | <0.001 |
| Structural CNS Abnormality | 8.9% | 13.6% | 24.8% | 32.1% | <0.001 |
| Cerebral Palsy | 4.0% | 11.6% | 31.7% | 45.7% | <0.001 |
| Cognitive Impairment | 11.0% | 27.2% | 41.6% | 58.0% | <0.001 |
| ASA Classification | |||||
| 1 | 22.9% | 8.4% | 6.9% | 9.9% | <0.001 |
| 2 | 58.9% | 61.2% | 48.5% | 37.0% | |
| 3 | 17.3% | 28.8% | 41.6% | 51.9% | |
| 4 | 0.8% | 1.2% | 3.0% | 1.2% | |
| 5 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| Operative Time (minutes) | 278.2 | 295.2 | 310.2 | 329.3 | <0.001 |
| Fusion Length | |||||
| 7–12 Levels | 69.8% | 60.0% | 56.4% | 46.9% | <0.001 |
| ≥13 Levels | 30.2% | 40.0% | 43.6% | 53.1% | |
| Length of Stay (days) | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 6.5 | 0.040 |