Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30191260›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging2019

The role of bone SPECT/CT in patients with persistent or recurrent lumbar pain following lumbar spine stabilization surgery.

Khulood Al-Riyami, Stefan Vöö, Gopinath Gnanasegaran, Ian Pressney, Adam Meir, Adrian Casey, Sean Molloy, James Allibone, Jamshed Bomanji

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Effectiveness of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT/SPECT-CT) in predicting therapeutic response to facet interventions for facet joint-related low back pain: A systematic review and Meta-Analysis.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 · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Khulood Al-RiyamiInstitute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London Hospital, 235 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BU, UK.
Stefan VööInstitute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London Hospital, 235 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BU, UK.
Gopinath GnanasegaranDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK.
Ian PressneyImaging Unit, Royal National Orthopaedics Hospital, London, UK.
Adam MeirDepartment of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queens Square, London, UK.
Adrian CaseyDepartment of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queens Square, London, UK.
Sean MolloySpinal Surgical Unit, Royal National Orthopaedics Hospital, London, UK.
James AlliboneDepartment of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queens Square, London, UK.
Jamshed BomanjiInstitute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London Hospital, 235 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BU, UK. jamshed.bomanji@nhs.net.
University College London · GBNational Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery · GBRoyal National Orthopaedic Hospital · GBThe Royal Free Hospital · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeDespite recent advances in lumbar spine stabilization surgery (LSSS), a high number of patients continue to complain of persistent/recurrent lumbar pain after LSSS. Conventional imaging (plain radiography, CT and MRI) is commonly performed to assess potential lumbar pain generators, but findings are equivocal in approximately 20% of patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of

methodsA total of 187 patients (median age 56 years, 70 men) with persistent/recurrent lumbar pain following LSSS with inconclusive conventional imaging (plain radiography, CT and/or MRI) underwent

resultsIn 160 of the 187 patients (85.6%), SPECT/CT showed positive mild or high tracer uptake in the LSSS region. More than half of the patients had abnormal tracer uptake in the stabilized segments (56.7%) and/or in the adjacent segments (55.6%). Although positive stabilized segment findings were commonly seen at <2 years (70.3%) and the rate decreased with time after LSSS, they were seen at >6 years after surgery in 38.2% of patients. In 51.4% of patients, abnormal activity was seen in the adjacent segments <2 years after LSSS, suggesting early/accelerated degeneration after surgery. The proportion of patients with abnormal activity in the adjacent segments increased to 67.3% at >6 years after LSSS (p < 0.05). Positive SPECT/CT findings in the stabilized segments were more frequent in patients with three or more stabilized segments (p < 0.05), but were not more frequent in the adjacent segments. Overall, positive SPECT/CT guided therapy in 64% of patients, which included facet joint/nerve root injections or re-do surgery at active sites and/or adjacent sites.

conclusionBone SPECT/CT is a sensitive diagnostic tool for identifying altered osteoblastic activity, which might be a pain generator in patients with persistent/recurrent pain after lumbar surgery especially when conventional imaging is inconclusive.

Indexed as

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography Computed TomographyAgedFemaleHumansLumbar VertebraeMaleMiddle AgedPainRecurrenceRetrospective StudiesLumbar spine stabilization surgerySPECTSPECT/CT

Identifiers

PMID30191260
OpenAlexW2890082051

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.