ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2022
Surgeons preference for lumbar disk surgery: a discrete choice experiment.
Article 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, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Evolving Landscape of Discrete Choice Experiments in Health Economics: A Systematic Review.PharmacoEconomics · 2025Pooled it
- Patient Preferences for Low Back Pain Treatments in Iran: A Discrete Choice Experiment.Patient preference and adherence · 2025Article
- Treatment decision-making factors among patients with cervical myelopathy: a discrete-choice experiment.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2024Article
- Modeling Optimal Clinical Thresholds for Elective Abdominal Hernia Repair in Patients With Cirrhosis.JAMA network open · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeMultiple surgical techniques are practiced to treat sciatica caused by lumbar disk herniation. It is unknown which factors surgeons find important when offering certain surgical techniques. The objective of this study is threefold: 1) determine the relative weight surgeons place on various characteristics of sciatica treatment, 2) determine the trade-offs surgeons make between these characteristics and 3) identify preference heterogeneity for sciatica treatment.
methodsA discrete choice experiment was conducted among members of two international neurosurgical organizations. Surgeons were asked on their preferences for surgical techniques using specific scenarios based on five characteristics: effectiveness on leg pain, risk of recurrent disk herniation, duration of postoperative back pain, risk of complications and recovery period.
resultsSix-hundred and forty-one questionnaires were filled in, the majority by neurosurgeons. All characteristics significantly influenced the preferences of the respondents. Overall, the risk of complications was the most important characteristic in the decision to opt-in or opt-out for surgery (35.7%). Risk of recurrent disk herniation (19.6%), effectiveness on leg pain (18.8%), postoperative back pain duration (13.5%) and length of recovery period (12.4%) followed. Four latent classes were identified, which was partly explained by the tenure of the surgeon. Surgeons were willing to trade-off 57.8% of effectiveness on leg pain to offer a treatment that has a 1% complication risk instead of 10%.
conclusionIn the context of this discrete choice experiment, it is shown that neurosurgeons consider the risk of complications as most important when a surgical technique is offered to treat sciatica, while the risk of recurrent disk herniation and effectiveness are also important factors. Neurosurgeons were prepared to trade off substantial amounts of effectiveness to achieve lower complication rates.
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