title: Patient outcomes after reoperation on the lumbar spine.
abstract: A consecutive series of thirty-nine patients who had had a reoperation of the lumbar spine was followed up for an average of forty-eight months (range, twenty-four to eighty-six months). The patients were evaluated with regard to pain, functional status, and work status. Twenty-eight patients (72 percent) had a successful outcome, as determined by their ability to return to work, their lack of a need for narcotic analgesics, and their satisfaction with the operative results. Factors that were significantly associated with a successful outcome included a younger age (p < 0.02), working outside the home (p < 0.05), an initial period of improvement after the previous (index) operation (p < 0.01), fewer spinal levels operated on previously (p < 0.05), and a revision procedure incorporating anterior interbody arthrodesis (p < 0.02).
authors.affiliation: Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Sachs
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000601:surgery*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012086:Reoperation; D013123:Spinal Fusion; D016896:Treatment Outcome