ArticleFrontiers in surgery2026
Beyond BMI: L4-L5 visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio on CT predicts impaired wound healing after posterior lumbar fusion-A retrospective study.
Article in Frontiers in surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Obesity is a recognized risk factor for postoperative complications after spine surgery, but body mass index (BMI) does not capture regional fat distribution. The visceral-to-subcutaneous fat area (VFA/SFA) ratio measured on CT reflects an unfavorable fat distribution pattern, yet its role in wound healing after posterior lumbar fusion (PLF) is unclear. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 526 adults who underwent instrumented PLF for degenerative lumbar pathology and had preoperative non-contrast abdominal CT including the L4-L5 level. On a single axial slice at L4-L5, visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) were segmented using a semi-automated protocol and the VFA/SFA ratio was calculated and grouped into quartiles. The primary outcome was impaired wound healing within 30 days, defined as persistent erythema or swelling, fat liquefaction, prolonged serous/serosanguinous exudation, partial wound edge necrosis or superficial dehiscence, or the need for negative-pressure therapy, delayed suture removal, additional antibiotics, or surgical debridement. Group comparisons used t tests and Results: Impaired wound healing occurred in 59 patients (11.2%). Compared with patients with good healing, those with impaired wound healing had higher BMI (25.4 ± 4.0 vs. 23.1 ± 3.8 kg/m Conclusion: The preoperative VFA/SFA ratio at L4-L5 is an independent predictor of impaired wound healing after PLF and provides incremental discriminative value beyond BMI and conventional clinical risk factors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.