ReviewThe Medical journal of Australia2023
The role of spinal surgery in the treatment of low back pain.
Review in The Medical journal of Australia, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does rehabilitation improve work participation in patients with chronic spinal pain after spinal surgery: a systematic review.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Article
- Patient Experiences of Perioperative Care in Lumbar Spine Surgery: A Qualitative Study.Nursing open · 2026Article
- Unsolicited Patient Complaints in Spine Surgery: An In-Depth Study of How and Why They Occur.Neurosurgery practice · 2026Article
- Does pre-operative psoas muscle cross-sectional area predict post-operative outcomes following lumbar spine fusion surgery?-a systematic review and narrative synthesis.Journal of spine surgery (Hong Kong) · 2026Review
- Long-term Pain and Function Outcomes Associated With Lumbar Spine Surgery for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Target Trial Emulation.International journal of spine surgery · 2026Article
- Development of machine learning models for predicting patient-perceived benefit following lumbar disc herniation or spinal stenosis surgery.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
- Degenerative Disease of Intervertebral Disc: A Narrative Review of Pathogenesis, Clinical Implications and Therapies.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- What a pain in the back: etiology, diagnosis and future treatment directions for discogenic low back pain.Bone research · 2025Review
- Ten myths of back pain in older adults that can lead to ineffective and harmful care.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2025Review
- Prevalence and Predictors of Opioid Use Before Spine Surgery: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Observational Study.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2025Observational
- Therapeutic exercise following lumbar spine surgery: a narrative review.North American Spine Society journal · 2025Article
- 'Before and After'. The Journey of Patients With Low Back Pain Consulting in Elective Spine Surgery Clinics. A Qualitative Study Protocol.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Therapeutic potential of natural polymer-based transdermal drug delivery system for musculoskeletal disorders.Biomaterials translational · 2025Article
- Low-intensity ultrasound stimulation promotes differentiation of bone marrow mononuclear cells to nucleus pulposus cells for matrix synthesis.American journal of translational research · 2025Article
- A Comparison of Contractile Properties and Acute Muscle Fatigue Response in Adult Females with Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Lumbar Facet Joint Disease: What, Why, and When?Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Discogenic Low Back Pain: Anatomic and Pathophysiologic Characterization, Clinical Evaluation, Biomarkers, AI, and Treatment Options.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Multimodal management strategies for chronic pain after spinal surgery: a comprehensive review.Anesthesia and pain medicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Low back pain (LBP) is common and a leading cause of disability and lost productivity worldwide. Acute LBP is frequently self-resolving, but recurrence is common, and a significant proportion of patients will develop chronic pain. This transition is perpetuated by anatomical, biological, psychological and social factors. Chronic LBP should be managed with a holistic biopsychosocial approach of generally non-surgical measures. Spinal surgery has a role in alleviating radicular pain and disability resulting from neural compression, or where back pain relates to cancer, infection, or gross instability. Spinal surgery for all other forms of back pain is unsupported by clinical data, and the broader evidence base for spinal surgery in the management of LBP is poor and suggests it is ineffective. Emerging areas of interest include selection of a minority of patients who may benefit from surgery based on spinal sagittal alignment and/or nuclear medicine scans, but an evidence base is absent. Spinal surgery for back pain has increased substantially over recent decades, and disproportionately among privately insured patients, thus the contribution of industry and third-party payers to this increase, and their involvement in published research, requires careful consideration.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.