ArticleWorld neurosurgery: X2020
Fusion Surgery for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: WFNS Spine Committee Recommendations.
Article in World neurosurgery: X, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Minimally invasive tubular decompression versus traditional open surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Decompression with interbody fusion versus decompression alone for degenerative lumbar diseases: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Decompression alone versus decompression with instrumented fusion in the treatment of lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Dural Sac Cross-sectional area change from preoperatively and up to 2 years after decompressive surgery for central lumbar spinal stenosis: investigation of operated levels, data from the NORDSTEN study.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 · 2024Trial
- Incidence and predictors of early and late reoperation after primary lumbar spine fusion: a 10-year retrospective cohort study of 1,356 patients.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 · 2026Article
- Total joint replacement of the lumbar spine: surgical technique and procedural details.Journal of spine surgery (Hong Kong) · 2026Article
- Novel 360° lumbar arthroplasty: Surgical technique and procedural details.North American Spine Society journal · 2026Article
- Laminectomy aloneWorld journal of orthopedics · 2026Review
- Patient-reported outcome measure completion in lumbar spine surgery: Rates and determinants in a multicenter registry.Brain & spine · 2026Article
- Comparable long-term pain and disability outcomes following decompression alone versus decompression with fusion in lumbar spinal stenosis patients with high-signal facet joints.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
- Noninstrumented Posterolateral Lumbar Fusions Continue to Fade Relative to Instrumented Posterolateral Approaches for Lumbar Degenerative Spondylolisthesis Over the Past Decade.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2025Article
- A PEEK-Based Pedicle Screw System for One-Level Lumbar Spinal Canal Stenosis: An Appraisal at a Five-Year Follow Up.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Differentiating Lumbar Spinal Etiology from Peripheral Plexopathies.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Surgical management of lumbar spinal stenosis in patients over 80: is there an increased risk?Neurosurgical review · 2022Article
- Outcome of Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression for Multisegment Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and the Effect on VAS Scores.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Decompression Using Minimally Invasive Surgery for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Associated with Degenerative Spondylolisthesis: A Review.Pain and therapy · 2021Review
- Introduction to Thoracolumbar Spine Fractures: WFNS Spine Committee Recommendations.Neurospine · 2021Article
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 at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Lumbar spine stenosis represents a complex degenerative pathology that has been a subject of significant dispute when it comes to fusion. A review of the literature from 2008 to 2019 was performed on the role of fusion in the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis using PubMed, Ovid Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Using the key words "lumbar spinal stenosis," "lumbar fusion," "lumbar decompression," and "lumbar pedicle screw fixation," the search revealed 490 papers. Of these, only Level 1 or Level 2 evidence papers were selected, leading to only 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that were analyzed. None of the good-quality studies (RCTs) performed so far have proven any clinical benefit of adding fusion to degenerative lumbar spine decompression. The effect of spinal instability on the outcome following decompression remains controversial. At present, no unanimous criteria exist among the RCTs to identify what constitutes true instability. Fusion for instability or stenosis alone remains controversial, and the results are unconvincing. At this point, the issue expands to not only lumbar degenerative diseases but spinal fractures and lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis. We thereby present the consensus of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Spine Committee, which formulated the indications for lumbar spine fusion in degenerative lumbar stenosis.
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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.