A new study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine examines whether the surgical effectiveness measures for lumbar spine surgery patients can predict two-year outcomes.
The study authors examined data from a multi-institutional, prospective registry on spine outcomes data across the country and found 969 patients who fit the criteria for their analysis. There were 300 patients who underwent anterior lumbar interbody fusion, 606 who underwent transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion and 63 patients who underwent lateral interbody fusion.
The researchers found:
1. There was a correlation between the SF-36, VAS back pain and VAS leg pain scores and ODI at one and two years after surgery.
2. The ALIF patients who reported minimum clinically important differences at one year after surgery were 13-fold more likely to also achieve MCID two years after surgery.
3. Among the TLIF and LLIF patients, those who reported MCID at one year after surgery were more likely to also report MCID two years after surgery. TLIF patients had a 13-fold likelihood and LLIF patients had a 14-fold likelihood.
4. The researchers found the outcome measure at one year after surgery "are highly predictive of 24-month outcomes, independent of the surgical procedure."
5. The study results suggest the one-year timeframe could be enough to identify whether the care was effective.