There is a wide range of reports on the prevalence of neurological injuries during scoliosis surgery, however this should depend on the subtypes and severity of the deformity. Furthermore, anterior versus posterior corrections pose different stresses to the spine, further quantifications of neurological risks are presented.

Neuromonitoring data was prospectively entered, and the database between 2006 and 2012 was interrogated. All deformity cases under the age of 21 were included. Tumour, fracture, infection and revision cases were excluded.

All “red alerts” were identified and detailed examinations of the neuromonitoring records, clinical notes and radiographs were made. Diagnosis, deformity severity and operative details were recorded.

2290 deformity operations were performed: 2068 scoliosis (1636 idiopathic, 204 neuromuscular, 216 syndromic, and 12 others), 89 kyphosis, 54 growing rod procedures, and 80 operations for hemivertebra. 696 anterior and 1363 posterior operations were performed for scoliosis (8 not recorded), and 38 anterior and 51 posterior kyphosis correction.

67 “red alerts” were identified, there were 14 transient and 6 permanent neurological injuries. 62 were during posterior stage (24 idiopathic, 21 neuromuscular, 15 syndromic (2 kyphosis), 1 growing rod procedure, 1 haemivertebra), and 5 were during anterior stage (4 idiopathic scoliosis and 1 syndromic kyphosis). Average Cobb angle was 88°. 1 permanent injuries were during correction for kyphosis, and 5 were for scoliosis (4 syndromic, 1 neuromuscular, and 1 anterior idiopathic).

Common reactions after “red alerts” were surgical pause with anaesthetic interventions (n=39) and the Stagnara wake-up test (n=22). Metalwork was partially removed in 20, revised in 12 and completely removed in 9. 13 procedures were abandoned.

The overall risk of permanent neurological injuries was 0.2%, the highest risk groups were posterior corrections for kyphosis and scoliosis associated with a syndrome. 4% of all posterior deformity corrections had “red alerts”, and 0.3% resulted in permanent injuries; compared to 0.6% “red alerts” and 0.3% permanent injuries for anterior surgery. The overall risk for idiopathic scoliosis was 0.06%.

Introduction: Referrals for Low Back Pain (LBP) are common and many patients appear to see more than one specialist. In one acute trust, a dedicated Spinal Assessment Clinic (SAC) run by nurse practitioners was developed.

Objective: To determine patterns of referral for LBP from primary to secondary care.

Method: All new referrals to the hospital for LBP in an index period June–November 1998 were included. Consultations for these patients in the preceding six months and the subsequent two years were studied.

Results: A total of 801 patients were referred in the audit period. The patients were seen in the SAC 75%, orthopaedics 5.5%, rheumatology 4.5%, neurosurgery 12% and the pain clinic 4%. Onward referrals made after the initial appointment from the SAC 4.9%, from orthopaedics 26.7%, from rheumatology 8.6%, from neurosurgery 33.7% and from the pain clinic 10.3%. Subsequent repeat referrals made by the GP occurred in 3.7%of patients initially seen in the SAC, 11.1% from orthopaedics, 2.9% from Rheumatology, 3.2% from Neurosurgery and 17.2% from the pain clinic. The average wait in days for a first appointment was SAC 42, orthopaedics 103, Rheumatology 82, Neurosurgery 78 and pain clinic 77.

Conclusion: The SAC offers a shorter wait for patients and an extremely low “churn” rate, implying high rates of satisfaction in patients and GP’s. The wait for other specialities is longer, and in orthopaedics and neurosurgery the re-referral rate is almost one third. Referral procedures to secondary care might need to be streamlined for more efficiency.