ArticleInternational journal of spine surgery2023
Is Repeated Preoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Necessary Before Planned Decompressive Surgery for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis?
Article in International journal of spine surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed, 0 citations in OpenAlex.
- An Evaluation of Lumbar Foraminal Stenosis Radiologic Grading Systems: A Systematic Review.Spine surgery and related research · 2026Review
- Preoperative Evaluation of Oswestry Disability Index in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: New Evidence of Time Independence of Variation Up to 1 Year.International journal of spine surgery · 2025Article
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 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCurrently, there are different routines in Norwegian hospitals regarding how recent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine should be performed before surgery. Patients with lumbar spinal stenosis from the Norwegian degenerative spondylolisthesis and spinal stenosis study, who had 2 preoperative MRIs performed within the year before surgery, were included. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the utility of repeated preoperative MRI for patients undergoing decompressive spine surgery for degenerative spinal stenosis.
methodsFor all included patients, the changes between the 2 preoperative MRIs were investigated for disc degeneration (Pfirrmann's classification), foraminal stenosis (Lee's classification), spondylolisthesis, and central canal stenosis (Schizas score and dural sac cross-sectional area).
resultsA total of 65 patients (78 levels) were included. Thirty-seven patients were women, and the mean age was 67 (range 48-79) years. Schizas score showed a clinically meaningful change of ±2 or 3 grades in 5 levels, and dural sac cross- sectional area was reduced in 47 levels with a mean change of -2.3 mm
conclusionFor patients undergoing surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis, repeated MRI within the year before planned surgery showed few significant changes in common radiological parameters. The benefit for the surgeon of repeat MRI is therefore limited. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2:
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.