Surgical treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis: Patients' postoperative disability and working capacity

Abstract

A total of 439 patients operated on for lumbar spinal stenosis during the period 1974-1987 was re-examinated and evaluated for working and functional capacity approximately 4 years after the decompressive surgery. The assessment of subjective disability was based on the Oswestry low-back pain questionnaire. The proportion of excellent-to-good outcomes was 62% (women 57%, men 65%). The ability to work before or after the operation and a history of no prior back surgery were variables predictive of a good outcome. Before the operation 86 patients were working, 223 patients were on sick leave, and 130 patients were retired. After the operation 52 of the employed patients and 70 of the unemployed patients returned to work. None of the retired patients returned to work. In logistic regression analysis the ability to work preoperatively, age under 50 years at the time of operation and the absence of prior back surgery predicted a postoperative ability to work. Our results suggest that more attention should be focussed on the diagnosis of spinal stenosis and on the timing of the operative intervention.

Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: Evaluation of Pain and Life Quality After Surgical Treatment

“…33 In this study we found a 55.26% rate of return to work, while Pihlajamäki et al 34 observed a rate of 36.5%. In a study involving 439 patients who underwent surgery for LSS, Airaksenen 35 observed that return to work can be considered an indicator of a favorable surgical outcome and that the ability to perform professional activities prior to surgery is predictive factor for a good outcome. According to the authors, of the 86 patients previously actively working, 52 (60.46%) returned to work.…”

Five-Year Outcomes of Surgical Treatment for Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

“…Some studies 13,16,17,23 indicated that gender was significantly associated with the likelihood of a poor outcome, whereas others 1,3,6,8,10,12,15,18,19 found no gender difference. Some studies 13,16,17,23 indicated that gender was significantly associated with the likelihood of a poor outcome, whereas others 1,3,6,8,10,12,15,18,19 found no gender difference.…”

The outcome of spinal decompression surgery 5 years on

“…Many spinal interventions appear to have excellent early post-operative results [2,3,14,40], but there is a temporal decline in benefit [21,35,41]. This would then indicate that conservative options may provide a viable option.…”