Analysis of Spinal Fusion Versus Nonsurgical Treatment for Chronic Low Back Pain Based on Elisabeth Svensson’s Method

Sammanfattning: The utility of spinal fusion for patients with chronic low back pain is controversial. The aim ofthe current study is to find out whether spinal fusion benefits the patients or not. Additionally,two outcome scales, the Balanced Inventory for Spinal Disorders (BIS) and Oswestry Low BackPain Disability Index (ODI), are compared to detect which one is preferable. A prospectiverandomized study concerning spinal fusion has recently been performed in Sweden. 74 patientsaged 18 to 65 with low back pain lasting longer than one year were randomized into twotreatment groups: a fusion group and a non-fusion group. Evaluation of the physical sensationsbased on several outcome scales were conducted both before and one year after the treatment.Elisabeth Svensson’s Method, which measures the level of changes both from systematic andindividual aspects, was applied to analyse the effect of spinal fusion. Measures of disorder(D) and order consistency (MA) were calculated when comparing the two outcome scales. Theconclusions are that spinal fusion has shown significant advantages over non-surgical treatmentmethods, and that BIS is recommended over ODI.