The long-term outcome of lumbar fusion in the Swedish lumbar spine study
Two pages on PainSci cite Hedlund 2016: 1. The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain
PainSci commentary on Hedlund 2016: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
This study followed 294 patients with chronic low back pain for many years, comparing patients who had spinal fusion surgery to those who received only non-specific physiotherapy. The contradictory result “prevents a strong conclusion,” but others have argued that the authors cherry-picked the best possible sounding news from their own data, creating the appearance of uncertainty about spinal fusion where in fact there was none. The true conclusion is that spinal fusion was not helpful for most people. For more detailed analysis, see Long term results of spinal fusion: good news and bad?.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Current literature suggests that in the long-term, fusion of the lumbar spine in chronic low back pain (CLBP) does not result in an outcome clearly better than structured conservative treatment modes.
PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the long-term outcome of lumbar fusion in CLBP, and also to assess methodological problems in long-term randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
STUDY DESIGN: A prospective randomized study was carried out.
PATIENT SAMPLE: A total of 294 patients (144 women and 150 men) with CLBP of at least 2 years' duration were randomized to lumbar fusion or non-specific physiotherapy. The mean follow-up time was 12.8 years (range 9-22). The follow up rate was 85%; exclusion of deceased patients resulted in a follow-up rate of 92%.
OUTCOME MEASURES: Global Assessment (GA) of back pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), visual analogue scale (VAS) for back and leg pain, Zung depression scale were determined. Work status, pain medication, and pain frequency were also documented.
METHODS: Standardized outcome questionnaires were obtained before treatment and at long-term follow-up. To optimize control for group changers, four models of data analysis were used according to (1) intention to treat (ITT), (2) "as treated" (AT), (3) per protocol (PP), and (4) if the conservative group automatically classify group changers as unchanged or worse in GA (GCAC). The initial study was sponsored by Acromed (US$50,000-US$100,000).
RESULTS: Except for the ITT model, the GA, the primary outcome measure, was significantly better for fusion. The proportion of patients much better or better in the fusion group was 66%, 65%, and 65% in the AT, PP, and GCAC models, respectively. In the conservative group, the same proportions were 31%, 37%, and 22%, respectively. However, the ODI, VAS back pain, work status, pain medication, and pain frequency were similar between the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS: One can conclude that from the patient's perspective, reflected by the GA, lumbar fusion surgery is a valid treatment option in CLBP. On the other hand, secondary outcome measures such as ODI and work status, best analyzed by the PP model, indicated that substantial disability remained at long-term after fusion as well as after conservative treatment. The lack of objective outcome measures in CLBP and the cross-over problem transforms an RCT to an observational study, that is, Level 2 evidence. The discrepancy between the primary and secondary outcome measures prevents a strong conclusion on whether to recommend fusion in non-specific low back pain.
related content
- “Comparison of spinal fusion and nonoperative treatment in patients with chronic low back pain: long-term follow-up of three randomized controlled trials,” Mannion et al, Spine J, 2013.
Specifically regarding Hedlund 2016:
- “Consensus at last! Long-term results of all randomized controlled trials show that fusion is no better than non-operative care in improving pain and disability in chronic low back pain,” Mannion et al, Spine J, 2016.
- Long term results of spinal fusion: good news and bad? — The results of the long-term Swedish lumbar spine study seemed mixed at first, but are probably just negative
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Placebo analgesia in physical and psychological interventions: Systematic review and meta-analysis of three-armed trials. Hohenschurz-Schmidt 2024 Eur J Pain.
- Recovery trajectories in common musculoskeletal complaints by diagnosis contra prognostic phenotypes. Aasdahl 2021 BMC Musculoskelet Disord.
- Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Moore 2023 J Pain.
- Moderators of the effect of therapeutic exercise for knee and hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis. Holden 2023 The Lancet Rheumatology.
- Inciting events associated with lumbar disc herniation. Suri 2010 Spine J.