Clinical Outcomes
Frequency and clinical predictors of adverse reactions to chiropractic care in the UCLA neck pain study.
This study by Hurwitz et al from 2005 looked at the type and frequency of adverse events associated with chiropractic treatments for neck pain. Study participants were included if they had neck pain without progressive neurologic deficit or presence of disc herniations. Additionally they were excluded if they had evidence of myelopathy, spondyloarthropathy or were […]
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Surgery for spinal stenosis: long-term reoperation rates, health care cost, and impact of instrumentation.
There has been a significant increase in the rates of spinal fusion in the past 15 years in the United States. This study attempted to identify the efficacy and costs associated with this trend. This study by Lad et al provided a retrospective cohort analysis of a population that underwent spinal stenosis surgery between 2002 […]
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Percutaneous lumbar laser disc decompression: an update of current evidence.
This systematic review by Singh et al (2013) provides an up to date review of the effectiveness of percutaneous lumbar laser discectomy. The acceptance of minimally invasive spine surgery continues to grow from both a demand by patients and amongst surgeons. The goals of having smaller incisions, limiting soft tissue trauma, shorter operating times and […]
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What level of pain are patients happy to live with after surgery for lumbar degenerative disorders?
This study by Fekete et al, which has been approved for publication in The Spine Journal, provided an alternative approach to evaluating clinical outcomes in patients with degenerative lumbar disorders. The study population was derived from a spine surgery outcomes database and EUROSPINE Spine Tango Registry. Over 6900 patients in the database met the inclusion […]
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2009 ISSLS Prize Winner: Does discography cause accelerated progression of degeneration changes in the lumbar disc: a ten-year matched cohort study.
The 2009 ISSLS Prize Winner for the best paper was awarded to Carragee et al for the Paper Titled Does Discography Cause accelerated progression of degenerative changes in the lumbar Spine: In this paper, Dr. Carragee followed a group of asymptomatic volunteers who had discography from L3-S1 performed in 1997, and compared the results of […]
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Predictors of the efficacy of epidural steroid injections for structural lumbar degenerative pathology.
This study which has been accepted and is currently pending publication in The Spine Journal presents an interesting predictive model for lumbar epidural steroid injection efficacy for those who have specific defined degenerative pathology. Treatment success for this study was defined by achieving at least a 7.1% improvement on the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Using […]
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1997 Volvo Award winner in clinical studies. Degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis with spinal stenosis: a prospective, randomized study comparing decompressive laminectomy and arthrodesis with and without spinal instrumentation.
This prominent historical study by Fischgrund et al published in 1997, was a well-controlled randomized trial looking at both clinical and radiographic outcomes of lumbar laminectomy with arthrodesis surgery in patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis and spinal stenosis. Patients in this study (N=68) were randomly assigned to two treatment groups; Lumbar laminectomy with posterolateral intertransverse process […]
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The prediction of curve progression in untreated idiopathic scoliosis during growth.
The natural history of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is still not entirely understood despite decades of research. This study by Lonstein and Carlson is truly one of the classic papers published on the subject of idiopathic scoliosis, looking at the prognostic factors related to curve progression. The study population was drawn from a database of juvenile and adolescent […]
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Radiculopathy and myelopathy at segments adjacent to the site of a previous anterior cervical arthrodesis.
This study by Hilibrand et al remains one of the most widely cited studies in regarding adjacent segment disease following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. The study population of 374 consecutive patients (409 fusions) were followed prospectively for the development of adjacent segment disease, as defined by symptomatic radiculopathy or myelopathy, at an adjacent segment […]
