Improvement in low back pain following spinal decompression: observational study of 119 patients.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective clinical observational study of low back pain (LBP) in patients undergoing laminectomy or laminotomy surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). OBJECTIVES: To quantify any change in LBP following laminectomy or laminotomy spinal decompression surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 119 patients with LSS completed Oswestry Disability Index questionnaire (ODI) and Visual Analogue Scale for back and leg pain, preoperatively, 6 weeks and 1 year postoperatively. RESULTS: There was significant (p < 0.0001) reduction in mean LBP from a baseline of 5.14/10 to 3.03/10 at 6 weeks. Similar results were seen at 1 year where mean LBP score was 3.07/10. There was a significant (p < 0.0001) reduction in the mean ODI at 6 weeks and 1 year postoperatively. Mean ODI fell from 44.82 to 25.13 at 6 weeks and 28.39 at 1 year. CONCLUSION: The aim of surgery in patients with LSS is to improve the resulting symptoms that include radicular leg pain and claudication. This observational study reports statistically significant improvement of LBP after LSS surgery. This provides frequency distribution data, which can be used to inform prospective patients of the expected outcomes of such surgery.