Postoperative Ketorolac Administration and Pseudoarthrosis Following Multilevel Posterior Cervical Decompression and Fusion: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Thursday, October 30, 2025

11:15 AM - 11:30 AM

Location: ROOM: Conference Room 4B >>> DIRECTIONS Fourth Floor >>> From the Main Elevator Bank, proceed left. Room 4D is at the end of the corridor, after taking a right just before Room 4-D. Walk past Room 4A; Room 4B is the second door on the right.

Presenting Author(s)

Julian Peregoff, BS

Medical Student
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, United States

Slides Slides

Non-presenting Author(s)

Amanda Moser, BA (she/her/hers)

Medical Student
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Ziad Hassan, BS

Medical Student
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States
Omkar Anaspure, BA

Medical Student
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States
Anthony N. Baumann, MD

Orthopedic Surgeon
Cleveland Clinic
Philadelphia, Ohio, United States
Tensae Assefa, MD

PGY2
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States
Nnaemeka Okorie, MD

PGY 3
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States
David Casper, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Orthopaedic Surgery
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States
Amrit Khalsa, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Orthopaedic Surgery, Chief, Spine Division,
University of Pennsylvania Department of Orthopedics and Perelman School of Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

The effect of perioperative ketorolac use after posterior cervical decompression and fusion (PCDF) remains unclear with ongoing concern regarding NSAID-induced pseudoarthrosis. This presentation discusses a study that investigated the association between postoperative ketorolac use and pseudoarthrosis after multilevel PCDF.

Learning Objectives:

Describe why ketorolac may be a safe alternative to opioids for post-operative pain management in PCDF patients.
Describe differences and/or similarities in rates of pseudoarthrosis, re-operation, post-op bleeding, opioid prescription, hardware complications, DVT, PE, and SSI between Ketorolac group and control group.
Describe the need for non-addictive pain management in spine surgery.
Compare the pros and cons of using the TriNetX database