Trial reportAnnals of internal medicine2015
Surgery versus nonsurgical treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis: a randomized trial.
Trial report in Annals of internal medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00022776 (Randomized Clinical Trial of Treatment for Spinal Stenosis), which is not on this map. Cited by 55 papers, 8 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.
Randomized Clinical Trial of Treatment for Spinal Stenosis
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 146 citations in OpenAlex.
- Single and multilevel decompression alone in patients with multilevel lumbar spinal stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurosurgical review · 2025Pooled it
- Exercise treatments for lumbar spinal stenosis: A systematic review and intervention component analysis of randomised controlled trials.Clinical rehabilitation · 2024Pooled it
- Treatment-based classification for low back pain: systematic review with meta-analysis.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2022Pooled it
- Non-operative treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis with neurogenic claudication: an updated systematic review.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Danish national clinical guidelines for surgical and nonsurgical treatment of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.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 · 2019Guideline
- Surgical options for lumbar spinal stenosis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Surgical versus non-surgical treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Management of lumbar spinal stenosis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2016Pooled it
- Testing a Personalized Approach to Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Older Veterans.Arthritis care & research · 2026Trial
- Artificial Intelligence Algorithm-Based Lumbar and Spinal MRI for Evaluation of Efficacy of Chinkuei Shin Chewan Decoction on Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.Contrast media & molecular imaging · 2021Trial
- Predictors and Outcomes of Crossover to Surgery from Physical Therapy for Meniscal Tear and Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Trial Comparing Physical Therapy and Surgery.The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Minimally Invasive Surgery for the Treatment of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Comprehensive Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Review
- Nonsurgical interventions for lumbar spinal stenosis with neurogenic claudication: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Integrative medicine research · 2026Article
- Severity of structural lumbar spinal stenosis does not impact responsiveness to exercise-based rehabilitation.Physical therapy · 2026Article
- Review
- Lumbar spinal stenosis: current concept of management.Asian spine journal · 2026Article
- Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Detection from Sagittal and Axial MR Images using Hybrid of Deep Kronecker Network and SpinalNet.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 · 2025Article
- Research waste in randomized clinical trials of degenerative spinal diseases: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Disc bulging predicts poor outcomes of decompression surgery for lumbar spinal canal stenosis.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 · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrimary care management decisions for patients with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) are challenging, and nonsurgical guidance is limited by lack of evidence.
objectiveTo compare surgical decompression with physical therapy (PT) for LSS and evaluate sex differences.
designMultisite randomized, controlled trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00022776).
settingNeurologic and orthopedic surgery departments and PT clinics.
participantsSurgical candidates with LSS aged 50 years or older who consented to surgery.
interventionSurgical decompression or PT. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome was physical function score on the Short Form-36 Health Survey at 2 years assessed by masked testers.
resultsThe study took place from November 2000 to September 2007. A total of 169 participants were randomly assigned and stratified by surgeon and sex (87 to surgery and 82 to PT), with 24-month follow-up completed by 74 and 73 participants in the surgery and PT groups, respectively. Mean improvement in physical function for the surgery and PT groups was 22.4 (95% CI, 16.9 to 27.9) and 19.2 (CI, 13.6 to 24.8), respectively. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed no difference between groups (24-month difference, 0.9 [CI, -7.9 to 9.6]). Sensitivity analyses using causal-effects methods to account for the high proportion of crossovers from PT to surgery (57%) showed no significant differences in physical function between groups. LIMITATION: Without a control group, it is not possible to judge success attributable to either intervention.
conclusionSurgical decompression yielded similar effects to a PT regimen among patients with LSS who were surgical candidates. Patients and health care providers should engage in shared decision-making conversations that include full disclosure of evidence involving surgical and nonsurgical treatments for LSS. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.