Perioperative Steroid Dosing on the APR in AIS

The objective of this study is to validate the utility of dexamethasone as a way to optimize postoperative care following PSF for AIS by minimizing the need for opioid medications and enhancing mobility and recovery.

The acute phase response (APR) is the body's response to induced tissue injury to facilitate, survive, and activate tissue repair. Posterior spinal fusion (PSF) is one source of tissue injury that has the potential to evoke an exuberant APR which can lead to a hyper-inflammatory state that can be associated with increased pain and patient morbidity. Perioperative steroid use has emerged as one potential method to minimize the activation of the APR as well as decrease postoperative pain and also narcotic utilization. However, the extent of the steroid usage on abating the activation of the APR in PSF for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) has not been previously investigated.

The APR plays significant roles not only in the activation of inflammation postoperatively, but also for hemostasis as it helps trigger the initial fibrin clot to seal bleeding vessels.1 The inflammatory response is a later effect, that again plays a role in coagulation but also guides the transition from the survival phase response following tissue injury to the reparative phase. However, when a hyper-inflammatory state is present due to an exuberant APR activation, this transition to the reparative phase is unable to progress, resulting in a perpetuation of inflammation activation resulting in increased pain, nausea, respiratory distress, venous thromboembolism, infection, and even death.2 The ability to minimize or prevent the development of this hyper-inflammatory state holds significant implications not only for improved post-operative pain and nausea, but also for decreased postoperative complications, decreased length of stay, and resultant decreases in hospital costs.

This project has the potential to validate the utility of dexamethasone as a way to optimize postoperative care following PSF for AIS by minimizing the need for opioid medications and enhancing mobility and recovery.

Inclusion criteria

• All patients ages 10-18 with AIS who are undergoing a PSF performed by Dr. Nicholas Fletcher at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Egleston will be considered eligible for the study

Exclusion criteria

• Patients outside the inclusion parameters or with congenital or syndromic scoliosis
• Adults > 18 years old
• Pregnant women
• Prisoners
• Patients with systemic fungal infections