• Kentaro Yamada, Hiromitsu Toyoda, Shinji Takahashi, Koji Tamai, Akinobu Suzuki, Masatoshi Hoshino, Hidetomi Terai, and Hiroaki Nakamura.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, PL Hospital, Tondabayashi City, Osaka, Japan.
• Spine. 2022 Mar 1; 47 (5): 405413405-413.

Study DesignRetrospective longitudinal cohort study.ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of facet joint opening (FJO) on clinical outcomes after minimally invasive decompression surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis.Summary Of Background DataAlthough FJOs have previously been identified as indicators of segmental spinal instability, their impact on clinical outcomes after decompression alone surgery has yet to be investigated.MethodsThis study included 296 patients from a single institution who underwent minimally invasive surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis and were followed up for ≥5 years. Our analysis focused on identifying FJOs at the index decompression level (d-FJO) and at multiple levels (m-FJO) (i.e., ≥3 levels within the lumbar segment) using preoperative computed tomography. Clinical outcomes including reoperations, improvement ratio for Japanese Orthopaedic Association score, and achievement of a minimal clinically important difference in visual analogue scale scores for low back pain or leg pain at 5 years were compared between patients with and without d-FJO or m-FJO.ResultsThere were 129 (44%) and 62 (21%) patients with d-FJO (more common with lateral olisthesis) and m-FJO (less common with spondylolisthesis), respectively. Reoperations were more common in patients with d-FJO than in those without (16% vs. 5%). On Cox proportional hazards analysis, d-FJO was identified as a predictor for revision at the index decompression level (hazard ratio 4.04, P = 0.03), whereas m-FJO was a predictor for revision at other lumbar levels (hazard ratio 3.71, P = 0.03). Patients with m-FJO had slightly lower rates of achieving minimal clinically important difference in visual analogue scale scores for low back pain (34% vs. 52%, P = 0.03) and poorer improvement ratio for Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores (74% vs. 80%, P = 0.03) than those without.ConclusionFJO at both index decompression level and multiple level were predictors of poor outcomes; patients with FJOs require careful surgical planning or special follow-up.Level of Evidence: 3.Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

18 keywords...

hide…