Commentary on: A randomized controlled trial of fusion surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis (Forsth P, Ólafsson G, Carlsson T, Frost A, Borgström F, Fritzell P, et al. N Eng J Med 2016;374:1414-23).

CONCLUSIONS: The authors concluded that at 2 and 5 postoperative years, patients with 1-2 level spinal stenosis did equally well with decompressions alone vs. decompressions with fusions with/without degenerative spondylolisthesis. This article offers a clear message for spinal surgeons; for older patients with 1-2 level spinal stenosis with/without DS, decompresions alone will typically suffice. This reduces patient morbidity along with LOS, operative time, and surgical costs. PMID: 27843676 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Surgical Neurology International - Category: Neurosurgery Tags: Surg Neurol Int Source Type: research