Return to work after posterolateral fusion with transpedicular instrumentation for spondylarthrosis of the lumbosacral spine.
We reviewed 41 working-age adults with lumbosacral spondylarthrosis treated by posterolateral spinal fusion using transpedicular instrumentation. The fusion indication was a long-standing, intractable low-back and/or radiating pain, resistant to conservative treatment, without any radiological evidence or disc herniation or spinal stenosis. All patients were evaluated for their post-treatment employment status. The patients were followed up until they had either returned to work or received a permanent disability pension. Only 15 patients out of 41 returned to work after an average postoperative sick leave of seven months. A proper selection of patients is mandatory when this kind of resource-consuming spinal surgery is practised.
Pihlajamäki
H
H
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland.
Myllynen
P
P
Böstman
O
O
D000328:Adult; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000601:surgery*