Predictors of Decompressive Laminectomy Outcomes

Completed

Conditions studied: Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

In brief

Decompressive laminectomy (DL) is the most common type of back surgery performed in older adults; DL treats lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a degenerative narrowing of the spinal canal causes pain and trouble walking. An estimated one in three people who undergo DL do not get well and often undergo repeated surgery.1,3-6 Some studies indicate that conditions outside of the spine (e.g., depression, hip arthritis) cause people who undergo DL to do poorly,27,30-36 but no one has comprehensively examined these conditions or the impact of treating them on DL outcomes. Thus LSS treatment continues to focus on the spine alone.61 The aim of this study is to identify conditions other than LSS that place Veterans at risk of poor DL outcomes so that future comparative effectiveness studies can be designed that examine the impact of a more comprehensive approach to treatment. Investigators believe that a patient-centered rather than a disease-centered approach will lead to superior outcomes, less suffering, and more appropriate use of health care resources.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02215551

Run by

VA Office of Research and Development

People needed

239

Starts

2014-10-01

Expected to finish

2023-01-10

Last updated by the study team

2023-01-12

Who can join

Age: 50 and older, up to 90. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Younger than 90 years old.
• no communication barriers (e.g., English speaking, household telephone)
• Affirmative response to each of the three following questions:
• a) Do patients have pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling in their legs when walking standing?
• b) Does this pain, weakness, numbness or tingling in their legs interfere with their daily activities?
• c) Have patients tried at least one non-surgical treatment for their leg symptoms (e.g., physical therapy, pain medications, spinal injection)?
• Have been scheduled for surgery on lower back for a condition called lumbar spinal stenosis.

You may not qualify if…

• non degenerative causes of LSS such as
• tumor,
• infection,
• trauma,
• hemorrhage,
• or epidural lipomatosis
• Prior lumbar spinal surgery
• spondylolisthesis with spinal instability
• significant cognitive impairment

Where it is running

• VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, CO — Denver, Colorado, United States
• Atlanta VA Medical and Rehab Center, Decatur, GA — Decatur, Georgia, United States
• VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI — Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
• Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN — Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
• VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System University Drive Division, Pittsburgh, PA — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
• South Texas Health Care System, San Antonio, TX — San Antonio, Texas, United States
• Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, Richmond, VA — Richmond, Virginia, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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