A Hospital for Special Surgery study has found that two minimally invasive spine surgeries — lumbar decompression surgery and lumbar spinal fusion — achieve similar short-term outcomes.
Four things to know:
1. Sheeraz Qureshi, MD, a spine surgeon at the New York City-based health system, was the study's senior investigator.
2. No statistical difference was found in the amount of time patients needed to return to work after the procedures, and patients were able to stop opioid use within one week after surgery.
3. Patients in the lumbar decompression group resumed driving four days sooner than those in the spinal fusion group.
4. Patients in both groups resumed driving and returned to work within three weeks of surgery.