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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011 Jul;20(7):1174-81.
doi: 10.1007/s00586-010-1652-y. Epub 2011 Jan 15.

Long-term results of surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis: a randomised controlled trial

Pär Slätis  1 , Antti Malmivaara, Markku Heliövaara, Päivi Sainio, Arto Herno, Jyrki Kankare, Seppo Seitsalo, Kaj Tallroth, Veli Turunen, Paul Knekt, Heikki Hurri
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Long-term results of surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis: a randomised controlled trial

Pär Slätis et al. Eur Spine J. 2011 Jul.

Erratum in

  • Eur Spine J. 2012 Jan;21(1):180

Abstract

We randomised a total of 94 patients with long-standing moderate lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) into a surgical group and a non-operative group, with 50 and 44 patients, respectively. The operative treatment comprised undercutting laminectomy of stenotic segments, augmented with transpedicular-instrumented fusion in suspected lumbar instability. The primary outcome was the Oswestry disability index (ODI), and the other main outcomes included assessments of leg and back pain and self-reported walking ability, all based on questionnaire data from 85 patients at the 6-year follow-up. At the 6-year follow-up, the mean difference in ODI in favour of surgery was 9.5 (95% confidence interval 0.9-18.1, P-value for global difference 0.006), whereas the intensity of leg or back pain did not differ between the two treatment groups any longer. Walking ability did not differ between the treatment groups at any time. Decompressive surgery of LSS provided modest but consistent improvement in functional ability, surpassing that obtained after non-operative measures.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of the patients through each stage of the study
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean scores (±standard deviation as a vertical bar) of the Oswestry disability index (scale 0–100) in the surgical and non-operative treatment groups during the 72-month follow-up
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean intensity (±standard deviation as a vertical bar) of the leg pain during walking (numerical scale, 0–10) in the surgical and non-operative treatment groups during the 72-month follow-up
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Mean intensity (±standard deviation as a vertical bar) of back pain during walking (numerical scale, 0–10) in the surgical and non-operative treatment groups during the 72-month follow-up
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Mean (±standard deviation as a vertical bar) of reported walking ability in metres in the surgical and non-operative treatment groups during the 72-month follow-up
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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