ArticleJournal of pain research2026
Central Canal Stenosis Severity Does Not Predict Residual Leg Pain After Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Decompression in Frail Elderly Patients: A Propensity Score-Weighted Cohort Study.
Article in Journal of pain research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose: Severe central canal stenosis is often considered a relative contraindication for minimally invasive decompression in frail elderly patients with lumbar spinal stenosis, yet evidence supporting this practice is limited. This study evaluated whether stenosis severity predicts persistent leg pain after percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic decompression (PTED). Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 152 frail elderly patients (age ≥75 years, FRAIL score ≥3) who underwent single-level PTED for unilateral symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (2022-2024). The primary outcome was persistent residual leg pain, defined as visual analogue scale (VAS) score ≥4 or regular analgesic use (≥3 days/week for >1 month) at all 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) balanced 16 baseline covariates between severe (Schizas grade C-D) and non-severe (grade A-B) stenosis groups. Propensity score matching and multivariable regression were sensitivity analyses. Linear mixed models assessed recovery trajectories. Results: Severe stenosis was present in 59 patients (38.8%). After IPTW, all covariates were well balanced (all SMD<0.1). Persistent leg pain occurred in 33 patients (21.7%), with similar rates between groups (non-severe: 21.5% vs severe: 22.0%). Severe stenosis was not associated with increased pain risk in any analysis: IPTW-adjusted OR=0.63 (95% CI: 0.26-1.52, P=0.306); PSM OR=0.38 (95% CI: 0.13-1.07, P=0.066); multivariable OR=0.56 (95% CI: 0.21-1.51, P=0.250). The strongest independent predictor was FRAIL score ≥4 (OR=15.57, 95% CI: 3.32-73.11, P=0.001). Recovery trajectories were similar between groups (group×time interaction: VAS P=0.535, ODI P=0.975). Recurrent pain occurred in only 3 patients (2.0%), none requiring reoperation. Conclusion: Preoperative central canal stenosis severity does not predict persistent leg pain or recovery trajectory after PTED in frail elderly patients. These findings support a symptom-guided rather than image-guided surgical strategy. Patient frailty, rather than the degree of central canal narrowing, is a more important determinant of postoperative pain outcomes.
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.