ArticleFrontiers in medicine2026
Effect of Korean medicine treatment on surgery and opioid prescription among patients with lumbar spinal stenosis: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.
Article in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Herbal decoction and lumbar spine surgery in patients with lumbar disc herniation: a real-world study using linked electronic health records and claims data.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Korean medicine use is associated with reduced lumbar surgery and opioid prescriptions in lumbar disc herniation: a nationwide cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
Introduction: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a prevalent degenerative spinal condition in older adults, often necessitating surgical intervention and long-term pharmacological treatment. Korean medicine (KM) has emerged as a relatively safe alternative; however, its impact on surgical rates and opioid use in patients with LSS has not been thoroughly investigated. This nationwide retrospective cohort study aimed to assess the effects of KM treatment on these outcomes. Methods: We analyzed claims data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) for patients newly diagnosed with LSS in 2015. The KM group included patients who had ≥ 3 outpatient KM visits within 1 year of diagnosis and received KM care more frequently than Western medicine (WM). The control group comprised patients with ≥ 3 outpatient WM visits and no KM use during the same period. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed, and outcomes were compared using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards models. Results: After PSM, 70,897 matched pairs were included in the surgery dataset, and 17,217 patients per group in the opioid dataset. KM treatment was associated with significantly lower risks of lumbar surgery (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.821; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.782-0.862), opioid use (HR: 0.810; 95% CI: 0.752-0.872), and opioid use excluding tramadol (HR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.630-0.919). Conclusion: These findings suggest that KM treatment is associated with a reduced long-term risk of lumbar surgery and opioid use in patients with LSS. KM may represent a potentially effective conservative treatment option. Further randomized controlled trials are warranted to validate these findings.
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