| SPORT Study Results Released in JAMA - November 22, 2006
Data from the landmark Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) was released late yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The SPORT trial is a study that has been designed to critically study the effectiveness of surgery versus non-surgical treatments for three types of spine disorders: lumbar disc herniation, spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis. In this week’s edition of JAMA, the lumbar disc herniation portion of the SPORT trial was discussed and reviewed.
The conclusions were that patients who underwent surgical interventions reported higher rates of satisfaction than those who didn’t, although the difference between the two approaches declined over time. By two years, the surgical and non-surgical groups were statistically equal in outcomes. In other words, lumbar disc surgery can provide more rapid relief of pain than non-surgical treatment, but in the long term, patients can do well with either approach. Based upon this study, one approach is not necessarily superior to the other.
This study supports the philosophy of The Neurosurgery Group, in which surgical intervention for herniated discs is reserved for cases in which conservative (non-surgical) treatment has failed. Significant weakness, numbness, bladder dysfunction, or incapacitating pain are other indications for surgery. The physicians of TNG believe that the treatment plan for each patient needs to be individualized after careful neurosurgical evaluation, and a well-informed discussion between the surgeon and patient.
Still to come are the other two sections of the SPORT trial (spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis).
As part of the response to the JAMA SPORT study articles and media coverage, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons faxed a letter to the New York Times. To view the NY Times letter to the editor,
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