Abstracts Posters SICOT-SOF meeting Gothenburg 2010 _2_

Poster
Topic: Spine
Abstract number: 25678
CORRELATION BETWEEN PAIN/DISABILITY AND MRI FINDINGS IN LUMBAR
SPINAL STENOSIS A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF 113 PATIENTS SCHEDULED
FOR DECOMPRESSION
Freyr Gauti SIGMUNDSSON, Xiaopeng KANG, Bo JÖNSSON, Björn STRÖMQVIST
Department of Orthopaedics, Clinical Sciences, Lund University Hospital, LUND
(SWEDEN)
Background: MRI is the modality of choice in planning of spinal stenosis surgery but
shows stenosis in 20% of asymptomatic subjects >60 years of age. The relationship
between the EQ-5D, SF-36, the ODI, walking distance, VAS for leg and back pain
and the measured dural sac area in single and multilevel stenosis remains unclear.
Methods: The study group included 113 consecutive patients subsequently operated
on with decompressive laminectomy. All patients completed the EQ-5D, SF-36, the
ODI, estimated walking distance, VAS leg and back. The cross sectional area of the
dural sac was measured at relevant disc levels from L1 to S1 using ROI technique.
For correlation, the value (mm2) of the most narrow level and the number of levels
with dural sac area < 70 mm2 were studied. Statistical analysis was performed with
linear regression analysis. Results/interpretation: High scores on the visual analogue
scale for leg pain correlated to the number of levels with significant spinal stenosis
(p0.050). The general health dimension of the SF-36 correlated with minimal dural
sac area (p0.044), i.e. patients with low dural sac area reported inferior general
health. Perceived walking distance, ODI, other domains of the SF-36, and VAS-low
back showed no correlation to dural sac area or number of levels with stenosis.
Women more often had multilevel spinal stenosis (p0.038). This study indicates that
functional status as measured by accepted outcome tools correlates with the
morphological changes on MRI to a limited extent in patients scheduled for spinal
stenosis surgery.
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