Trial reportEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2012
No difference in 9-year outcome in CLBP patients randomized to lumbar fusion versus cognitive intervention and exercises.
Trial report in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Comparison between spinal fusion vs. nonoperative treatment for lumbar degenerative pathology: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurosurgical review · 2025Pooled it
- Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic literature review of time to return to work and narcotic use after lumbar spinal fusion using minimal invasive and open surgery techniques.BMC health services research · 2017Pooled it
- Multidisciplinary biopsychosocial rehabilitation for chronic low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Five-year follow-up of total disc replacement compared to fusion: a randomized controlled trial.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2013Trial
- Biologic Therapies for Discogenic Pain.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- What can we learn from long-term studies on chronic low back pain? A scoping review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022Article
- Characterisation of motor cortex organisation in patients with different presentations of persistent low back pain.The European journal of neuroscience · 2021Article
- Chiropractic Distraction Spinal Manipulation on Postsurgical Continued Low Back and Radicular Pain Patients: A Retrospective Case Series.Journal of chiropractic medicine · 2016Article
- New horizons in neuromodulation.Current pain and headache reports · 2014Review
- Chronic low back pain: pharmacological, interventional and surgical strategies.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2013Review
- The Michel Benoist and Robert Mulholland yearly European Spine Journal Review: a survey of the "medical" articles in the European Spine Journal, 2012.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2013Article
- The Michel Benoist and Robert Mulholland yearly European Spine Journal Review: a survey of the "surgical and research" articles in the European Spine Journal 2012.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo compare the 9-year outcome in patients with chronic low back pain treated by instrumented lumbar fusion versus cognitive intervention and exercises.
methodsThe main outcome measure was the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Secondary outcome measures included pain, fear-avoidance beliefs, trunk muscle strength, medication, and return to work.
resultsOne-third of the patients randomized to cognitive intervention and exercises had crossed over and been operated and one-third of the patients allocated to lumbar fusion had been re-operated. The intention-to-treat analysis detected no differences between the two groups. The mean adjusted treatment effect for ODI was 1.9 (95 % CI -7.8 to 11.6). Analysed according to the treatment received, more operated patients used pain medication and were out of work.
conclusionsThe outcome at 9 years was not different between instrumented lumbar fusion and cognitive intervention and exercises.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.