Comparison Between Surgical and Conservative Treatment for Lumbar Stenosis

This study aims to compare the outcomes of surgical treatment and conservative treatment at medium- and long-term period (minimum 2 years) in patients with lumbar stenosis who come to the observation of the PI's Team at the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, through a series exhaustive questionnaires to self-administer to patients in order to define a path of "decision-making" as effective as possible for the patient and the doctor.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Non-surgical treatment; Procedure: Surgical treatment for spinal stenosis

Detailed Description

Non-surgical treatment:

Conservative treatment may include different approaches, such as analgesics, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, physical therapy, Global Postural Rehabilitation, magnetic therapy, laser therapy, TENS, massage, cognitive-behavioral therapy and all those procedures that can bring benefit in back and legs pain.

Surgical treatment:

Surgical treatment of lumbar stenosis is the decompression surgery which relieves the nerve structures to prevent permanent neurological damage. Decompression can be made on one or more segments of the spine and can be done with laminectomy, hemilaminectomy, laminotomy.

During a laminotomy part of the vertebral lamina is removed above and below the compressed nerve. The opening created is sometimes enough to relieve the compression on the nerve. In most cases, also the disc material and bone spur that compress the nerve are removed.

During a laminectomy the vertebral lamina is completely removed, along with the disc and the bone material that compress the nerves. The opening produced by the removal of the lamina is protected by back muscles and ligaments.

If the damage has occurred at several levels and bone of the vertebral support structures must be removed to achieve decompression, it can be performed a stabilization surgery with vertebral bone fusion (arthrodesis) in order to avoid instability of the column. Fusion is carried out to eliminate the mobility between different vertebrae and it is achieved using bone derived from the patient's iliac crest or from a donor. The bone gradually grows and melts with the same vertebrae. This limits the movements that may have been one of the causes of back pain. It takes about six months for it to achieve a solid bony spinal fusion.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Italy
  • Bologna, Italy, 40136
    • Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Confirmatory imaging study (MRI or CT) showing lumbar spinal stenosis at one or more levels (L2 to sacrum) defined as narrowing of the central spinal canal, lateral recesses, or neural foramens due to encroachment on the neural structures by the surrounding bone and soft tissue.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients are not eligible if they have evidence of instability on lateral flexion- extension radiographs, defined as a change of #10° of angulation of adjacent segments by Cobb measurement or a change of more than 4 mm of anteroposterior or posteroanterior translation.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Non-surgical treatment; Different types of non-surgical treatments	Procedure: Non-surgical treatment; Analgesics, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, physical therapy, Global Postural Rehabilitation, magnetic therapy, laser therapy, transcutaneous electrical nervous stimulation (TENS), massage, cognitive-behavioral therapy and all those procedures that can bring benefit to back and leg pain.
Experimental: Surgical treatment; Surgical treatment for spinal stenosis	Procedure: Surgical treatment for spinal stenosis; Decompression of nerve structures by laminotomy or laminectomy and posterior lumbar fusion if stabilization of the column is required.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Back and leg pain assessed by VAS	Self-administered questionnaires for patients to evaluate back and leg pain (VAS score)	Change from baseline VAS at 3, 6, 12, 24 months
Functional activity assessed by ODI	Self-administered questionnaires for patients to evaluate a disability index (ODI)	Change from baseline ODI at 3, 6, 12, 24 months
Quality of life assessed by EQ-5D	Self-administered questionnaires for patients to evaluate the quality of life (EQ-5D)	Change from baseline EQ-5D at 3, 6, 12, 24 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Complications	Evaluation of complications associated to the surgical treatment	6, 12, 24 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Alessandro Gasbarrini, MD, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Weinstein JN, Tosteson TD, Lurie JD, Tosteson AN, Blood E, Hanscom B, Herkowitz H, Cammisa F, Albert T, Boden SD, Hilibrand A, Goldberg H, Berven S, An H; SPORT Investigators. Surgical versus nonsurgical therapy for lumbar spinal stenosis. N Engl J Med. 2008 Feb 21;358(8):794-810. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0707136.
• Zucherman JF, Hsu KY, Hartjen CA, Mehalic TF, Implicito DA, Martin MJ, Johnson DR 2nd, Skidmore GA, Vessa PP, Dwyer JW, Puccio ST, Cauthen JC, Ozuna RM. A multicenter, prospective, randomized trial evaluating the X STOP interspinous process decompression system for the treatment of neurogenic intermittent claudication: two-year follow-up results. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2005 Jun 15;30(12):1351-8. doi: 10.1097/01.brs.0000166618.42749.d1.
• Kovacs FM, Urrutia G, Alarcon JD. Surgery versus conservative treatment for symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2011 Sep 15;36(20):E1335-51. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e31820c97b1.
• Amundsen T, Weber H, Nordal HJ, Magnaes B, Abdelnoor M, Lilleas F. Lumbar spinal stenosis: conservative or surgical management?: A prospective 10-year study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2000 Jun 1;25(11):1424-35; discussion 1435-6. doi: 10.1097/00007632-200006010-00016.
• Malmivaara A, Slatis P, Heliovaara M, Sainio P, Kinnunen H, Kankare J, Dalin-Hirvonen N, Seitsalo S, Herno A, Kortekangas P, Niinimaki T, Ronty H, Tallroth K, Turunen V, Knekt P, Harkanen T, Hurri H; Finnish Lumbar Spinal Research Group. Surgical or nonoperative treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis? A randomized controlled trial. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2007 Jan 1;32(1):1-8. doi: 10.1097/01.brs.0000251014.81875.6d.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 8, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 16, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): June 16, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 1, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 29, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): April 7, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 7, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 29, 2022
• Last Verified: March 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Musculoskeletal Diseases; Pathological Conditions, Anatomical; Spinal Diseases; Bone Diseases; Constriction, Pathologic; Spinal Stenosis
• Other Study ID Numbers: RF MINSAL2009.STENOSI

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No