A study published in the June 1st issue of Spine found that while teaching hospitals have higher mortality rates, they also perform riskier procedures on patients who often have pre-existing conditions.
The study analyzed the rates of mortality and complication associated with cervical spine surgery at teaching and non-teaching hospitals for over 200,000 spine surgeries nationwide.
Results showed that mortality was twice as likely, and risk of complications from surgery was 40 percent more likely at teaching hospitals than at non-teaching hospitals.
However, when researchers adjusted for pre-existing patient conditions, inherent risk associated with the type of surgical procedure and volume of patients, teaching hospitals were not significantly riskier than non-teaching hospitals for spine surgery.
The study did not address surgical risk as it may apply to receiving treatment from an attending physician versus a resident, which may represent an additional complication, according to the study's authors.
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