Racial and ethnic disparities in reception of muscle flap closure during oncologic spinal surgery

Racial disparities persist in surgical outcomes after spine surgery for primary and metastatic cancers. Muscle flap closure of spinal defects after oncologic resection has been shown to reduce wound complication rate with favorable cost-effectiveness. It is currently unknown whether racial disparities may affect the reception of this treatment. Spinal surgery procedures for tumor resection and subsequent reconstruction were identified in the 2011–2022 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program databases. Cases were propensity score matched for covariates like age, comorbidities, number of vertebral levels reconstructed, and length of stay to isolate the predictive impact of race on reception of muscle flap closure (p