ArticleInternational journal of spine surgery2026
Long-term Pain and Function Outcomes Associated With Lumbar Spine Surgery for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Target Trial Emulation.
Article in International journal of spine surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundConducting randomized controlled trials to measure the outcomes of lumbar spine surgery among patients with low back pain involves many methodological challenges. Using real-world data acquired from observational databases represents an alternative approach to attain evidence pertaining to lumbar spine surgery. This study aimed to measure the long-term pain and functional outcomes of patients with chronic low back pain treated with lumbar spine surgery compared with those receiving usual care.
methodsA target trial emulation was performed using data acquired from the national Pain Registry for Epidemiological, Clinical, and Interventional Studies and Innovation from April 2016 to April 2025. Following the exclusion of patients with prior lumbar spine surgery at registry enrollment, propensity scores were used to match 75 patients who subsequently underwent lumbar spine surgery with 75 patients who received usual care. Pain and function were measured for up to 36 months with a numerical rating scale and the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire, respectively.
resultsOverall, the mean (SD) age of study patients was 52.5 (13.6) years, and 112 (74.7%) were female. During 952 encounters from 3 through 36 months, patients in the lumbar spine surgery group reported less pain intensity (mean, 5.6; 95% CI, 5.2-6.0) than those in the usual care group (mean, 6.2; 95% CI, 5.8-6.6;
conclusionsThis target trial emulation provides evidence on the long-term outcomes of lumbar spine surgery for chronic low back pain in lieu of randomized controlled trials. Lumbar spine surgery was associated with better pain outcomes, but not better function outcomes, over time. Target trial emulation and other studies involving high-quality observational databases may be used to provide evidence pertaining to lumbar spine surgery when conducting a randomized controlled trial is methodologically difficult or not feasible. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Lumbar spine surgery yields clinically relevant improvement in low back pain intensity for up to 3 years compared with usual care; however, there is no comparable benefit in functioning. 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.