Abstract
The present prospective observational study aimed to analyze the outcomes of inpatients who received integrative Korean medicine treatment in order to provide evidence on its effects on lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Patients with LSS who received inpatient treatment at four Korean medicine hospitals from January 2015 to December 2018 were followed up. Outcomes measured included the numeric rating scale (NRS) scores for back and leg pain, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Changes in outcomes at admission, discharge, and follow-up, as well as associated predictors that could account for the improvement in outcomes were analyzed. The NRS score for back pain, NRS score for leg pain, and ODI decreased by 2.20 points (95% confidence interval (CI), −2.41 to −1.99), 2.28 points (95% CI, −2.59 to −1.96), and 17.31 points (95% CI, −19.6 to −15.02), respectively, at long-term follow-up compared with at admission. Patients with LSS who received inpatient integrative Korean medicine treatment exhibited an improvement in pain and functional disability. Further studies are required to determine the effects of integrative Korean medicine treatment.
Highlights
Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a degenerative disease in which the central canal is narrowed by the surrounding bones or tissues
759 out of 2212 patients admitted to four Korean medicine hospitals across the country with a diagnosis of LSS from 2015 to 2018 had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of central stenosis
The survival analysis indicated that the median time to improvement in the numeric rating scale (NRS) score for back pain, NRS score for leg pain, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) was 9 days, 12 days, and 8 days
Summary
Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a degenerative disease in which the central canal is narrowed by the surrounding bones or tissues. LSS has a prevalence rate of approximately 47% among individuals aged 60–69 years in the United States [2], and is the most common cause of spine surgery among those aged >65 years [3,4]. Surgical treatment for LSS is costly, carries a high adverse event risk, and often requires reoperation or readmission [5,6]. Weinstein et al [1] and Atlas et al [9] showed that the outcomes of patients who underwent surgery in the early stage were superior to those of patients who received conservative treatment. Delitto et al [10] reported no significant difference between these two types of treatment
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