Spine Stabilisation Trial: Management of chronic low back pain
Ly-Mee Yu and Doug Altman with Jeremy Fairbank, James Wilson-MacDonald, Karen Barker, Rory Collins (Oxford), and Helen Frost (Coventry) for the Spine Stabilisation Trial Group
The management of back pain is controversial, and there is still considerable uncertainty about the place of surgery and non-operative management in the treatment of chronic low back pain.
Chronic back pain is one of the commonest symptoms, a cause of private distress, considerable personal and public financial consequences and a condition that is often difficult to treat. The management of back pain is controversial, and there is still considerable uncertainty about the place of surgery and non-operative management in the treatment of chronic low back pain. To date, only two randomised studies have been published comparing the results of surgical treatment compared with non-operative treatment either in the form of physiotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy.
The Spine Stabilisation Trial was a multi-centred randomised trial comparing the effect of spinal stabilisation surgery and intensive rehabilitation in treating patients with chronic low back pain. 349 patients were randomised between June 1996 and February 2002 from 15 centres in the UK. Primary outcomes of interest were the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Index and the Shuttle Walking Test at 24 months.
Data collection for 24 months follow up was completed in February 2004. A paper was submitted for peer review in December 2004.
Website: www.ndos.ox.ac.uk/sst/
