The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
-
Spinal fusion is a common but controversial treatment for chronic low back pain (LBP) with outcomes similar to those of programmed conservative care. To improve the results of fusion, tests for patient selection are used in clinical practice. ⋯ No subset of patients with chronic LBP could be identified for whom spinal fusion is a predictable and effective treatment. Best evidence does not support the use of current tests for patient selection in clinical practice.
-
The primary goal of surgical arthrodesis is to eliminate the motion of spinal segments in an effort to alleviate pain, improve deformity, and reduce disability. However, decreased spinal mobility may impair performance of activities of daily living (ADLs) due to the resulting stiffness or the lack of mobility of the fused segment. Current clinical outcome instruments do not seek information regarding the impact of spinal stiffness on functional ability. Therefore, a patient-reported outcome questionnaire measuring the impact of lumbar stiffness on functional abilities was devised and assessed for internal consistency, retest repeatability, and external validity. ⋯ This pilot study demonstrates that the LSDI questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing functional limitations due to lumbar stiffness among spinal arthrodesis patients. The questionnaire is proposed for use in prospective evaluation of lumbar stiffness impacts after arthrodesis.
-
Although spinal arthrodesis can improve function by correcting deformity and reducing pain, it also by intention reduces spinal mobility. Increased spinal stiffness may have the potential to impair function and ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), independent of pain levels. ⋯ Difficulty in performing certain ADLs increases for patients with multilevel lumbar fusions as opposed to one-level arthrodesis. The LSDI distinguishes functional difficulties with ADLs accruing because of spinal stiffness, which appear to be independent of the functional limitations resulting from low back pain as measured by ODI.
-
Comparative Study
The biomechanics of a multilevel lumbar spine hybrid using nucleus replacement in conjunction with fusion.
Degenerative disc disease is commonly a multilevel pathology with varying deterioration severity. The use of fusion on multiple levels can significantly affect functionality and has been linked to persistent adjacent disc degeneration. A hybrid approach of fusion and nucleus replacement (NR) has been suggested as a solution for mildly degenerated yet painful levels adjacent to fusion. ⋯ These data portend more natural functional outcomes and fewer adjacent disc complications for a multilevel NR+fusion hybrid compared with the classical two-level fusion.
-
Previous studies of the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) 22 discriminative validity have lacked sufficiently matched study groups and were limited to a comparison with three or fewer subgroups of disease severity. ⋯ The SRS-22 questionnaire demonstrated good discriminative validity between small nonoperative curves and larger surgical curves within the pain, image, and total domains. However, SRS-22 lacked the ability to differentiate between small intervals of curve magnitude, suggesting a limitation to the questionnaire's discriminative capacity. The discriminative validity of the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) 22 has not been clearly defined. Our analysis of 155 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients evaluates the instrument's discriminative validity among five age- and sex-matched curve-severity subgroups. The SRS-22 questionnaire lacked the ability to differentiate between small intervals of curve magnitude, suggesting a limit to the questionnaire's discriminative capacity.