Dynamic sagittal tether may yield faster return to work vs. lumbar interbody fusion

 

                   CHICAGO — Results presented here showed decompression and dynamic sagittal tether stabilization for degenerative spondylolisthesis may yield faster return to work and activities of daily living compared with lumbar interbody fusion.

                                   “The reduction in disability and faster return to work and activities of daily living may indicate lower perioperative morbidity and faster recovery similar to decompression, while the sustained reduction in disability may indicate clinical durability similar to fusion,” William F. Lavelle, MD, professor of orthopedic surgery at Upstate University Hospital, said in a press release from Empirical Spine Inc. “These data indicate that LimiFlex [Dynamic Sagittal Tether] is a promising alternative to fusion for this large patient population.”

                      

Lavelle and colleagues propensity matched 136 patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis and lumbar spinal stenosis who underwent decompression and dynamic sagittal tether stabilization (LimiFlex Dynamic Sagittal Tether, Empirical Spine Inc.) with 131 patients who underwent decompression and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. Researchers collected work status, return to work, activities of daily living and change in disability preoperatively and at 12-month follow-up and compared the results between the two groups.

With regard to change in disability, disability is measured by the [Oswestry Disability Index] ODI, a great drop in ODI is potentially a better outcome, and we see that both the fusion group and the dynamic sagittal group had a drop in their ODI scores with a difference being toward the advantage of the dynamic sagittal tether,” Lavelle said in his presentation at the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting.


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