A new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery examined the outcomes for spinal fusion patients with isthmic spondylolisthesis with and without instrumentation.
The study authors gathered data from 586 patients in the Swedish Spine Registry and compared their outcomes. The patients underwent posterolateral fusion for spondylolisthesis, with instrumentation performed in 452 of the cases; the remaining 102 patients received surgery without instrumentation.
The researchers found:
1. More than half — 54 percent — of the patients reported back pain improvement one year after surgery in the non-instrumentation group; 68 percent of the patients in the instrumentation group reported back pain improvement and 70 percent of those patients underwent interbody fusion.
2. The outcomes for VAS back pain scores were similar between the two groups one year after surgery.
3. Within two years of surgery 57 percent of the non-instrumentation and 70 percent of the instrumentation groups reported improvement in back pain scores.
4. Long term outcomes were similar, as the researchers didn't find any differences in the 6.9 year follow-up.
5. The patients who underwent additional lumbar spine surgeries after interbody fusion and posterolateral fusion with instrumentation had a higher hazard ratio when compared with those who underwent the procedure without instrumentation.