Long-Term Pain Characteristics and Management Following Minimally Invasive Spinal Decompression and Open Laminectomy and Fusion for Spinal Stenosis

Abstract

Background and Objectives: To compare the long-term pain characteristics and its chronic management following minimally invasive spinal (MIS) decompression and open laminectomy with fusion for lumbar stenosis. Materials and Methods: The study cohort included patients with a minimum 5-year postoperative follow-up after undergoing either MIS decompression or laminectomy with fusion for spinal claudication. The primary outcome of interest was chronic back and leg pain intensity. Secondary outcome measures included pain frequency during the day, chronic use of non-opioid analgesics, narcotic medications, medical cannabinoids, and continuous interventional pain treatments. Results: A total of 95 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis underwent one- or two-level surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis between April 2009 and July 2013. Of these, 50 patients underwent MIS decompression and 45 patients underwent open laminectomy with instrumented fusion. In the fusion group, a higher percentage of patients experienced moderate-to-severe back pain with 48% compared to 21.8% of patients in the MIS decompression group (p p Conclusions: MIS decompression for the treatment of degenerative spinal stenosis resulted in decreased long-term back pain and similar leg pain outcomes compared to open laminectomy and instrumented fusion surgery.

Keywords

• minimally invasive
• spinal decompression
• laminectomy
• fusion
• clinical outcomes