ReviewEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2026
Quality improvement in the management of degenerative spinal disorders: a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines.
Review in 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, 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
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
designSystematic review and quality appraisal of clinical practice guidelines. PURPOSE: Degenerative spinal diseases are among the leading causes of disability worldwide, with a rising prevalence and corresponding increase in treatment demand. Despite this burden, there is significant variability and uncertainty in clinical decision-making and outcome assessment. This systematic review provides a comprehensive appraisal of existing clinical practice guidelines for degenerative spinal conditions, aiming to evaluate their methodological quality, reporting standards and clinical applicability.
methodsThe methodology of this systematic review was developed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline and prospectively registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). The retrieved guidelines and their recommendations were appraised using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation Global Rating Scale (AGREE GRS) and AGREE Recommendation Excellence (AGREE REX) instrument.
resultsA total of 12,632 unique manuscripts were screened, from which 78 guidelines and 1,641 recommendations were ultimately extracted. Half of the guidelines were published by North American societies and three-quarters of all guidelines were focused on lumbar disorders. Most guidelines focused on surgical indications and techniques or combined diagnostic and therapeutic aspects. The appraisal revealed variability in methodological quality across the included guidelines.
conclusionsThis systematic review identified 78 clinical practice guidelines and 1,641 recommendations on the management of degenerative spinal conditions, demonstrating substantial variability in methodological quality and clinical applicability. Future guideline development should focus on methodological rigour, transparent processes and international collaboration to improve the reliability and clinical utility of guidelines.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42669091What 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.