Journal of spine surgery (Hong Kong)
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Our aim was to determine whether patients derived benefit from removal of pedicle screw instrumentation for axial pain without other cause using our surgical technique and patient selection. A secondary aim was to investigate factors that were associated with poorer outcomes for this procedure as well as complication rate in this cohort. ⋯ Approximately two thirds of patients were satisfied with removal of instrumentation for treatment of residual low back pain (LBP) following elective lumbar fusion and recorded reduced VAS and grade II opioid use. A subset of patients remained that did not derive benefit and were associated with compensable status, preoperative grade II opioid use and a shorter time between fusion and removal procedure. A prospective cohort study with preoperative diagnostic injections and standardized imaging and microscopic techniques would strengthen future studies. However, this study suggests that removal of instrumentation is safe and provides modest benefit as a palliative procedure for a subset of patients with significant disability from chronic LBP without an underlying cause following lumbar fusion.