We performed a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials to investigate the effectiveness of surgical fusion for the treatment of chronic low back pain compared to non-surgical intervention. Several electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Science Citation Index) were searched from 1966 to 2005. The meta-analysis comparison was based on the mean difference in Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) change from baseline to the specified follow-up of patients undergoing surgical versus non-surgical treatment. Of the 58 articles identified, three studies were eligible for primary analysis and one study for sensitivity analysis, with a total of 634 patients. The pooled mean difference in ODI between the surgical and non-surgical groups was in favour of surgery (mean difference of ODI: 4.13, 95%CI: -0.82 to 9.08, p = 0.10, I(2) = 44.4%). Surgical treatment was associated with a 16% pooled rate of early complication (95%CI: 12-20, I(2) = 0%). Surgical fusion for chronic low back pain favoured a marginal improvement in the ODI compared to non-surgical intervention. This difference in ODI was not statistically significant and is of minimal clinical importance. Surgery was found to be associated with a significant risk of complications. Therefore, the cumulative evidence at the present time does not support routine surgical fusion for the treatment of chronic low back pain.

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Aula Abbara, Miriam Orcutt, and Omar Gabbar report on the difficulties facing doctors who flee Syria

The lumbar facet joints have been implicated as one of the causes of low-back pain syndromes. About 15-40% of patients who presented with chronic low-back pain was attributed to lumbar facet joint pain. The purpose of this study was to analyse whether radiofrequency denervation is better than SHAM procedure in treating chronic low-back pain caused by lumbar zygapophysial joints pathology. From the four identified randomised control trials, there is conflicting evidence at an intermediate 3-6-month stage, however; one study demonstrates statistical significance of radiofrequency denervation at 3 months. Longer-term follow-up is needed to prove the efficacy of radiofrequency denervation technique.

Our aim in this prospective radiological study was to determine whether the flexibility rate calculated from radiographs obtained during forced traction under general anaesthesia, was better than that of fulcrum-bending radiographs before corrective surgery in predicting the extent of the available correction in patients with idiopathic scoliosis. We evaluated 33 patients with a Cobb angle > 60 degrees on a standing posteroanterior radiograph, who had been treated by posterior correction. Pre-operative standing fulcrum-bending radiographs and those with forced-traction under general anaesthesia were obtained. Post-operative standing radiographs were taken after surgical correction. The mean forced-traction flexibility rate was 55% (SD 11.3) which was significantly higher than the mean fulcrum-bending flexibility rate of 32% (SD 16.1) (p < 0.001). We found no correlation between either the forced-traction or fulcrum-bending flexibility rates and the correction rate post-operatively (p = 0.24 and p = 0.44, respectively). Radiographs obtained during forced traction under general anaesthesia were better at predicting the flexibility of the curve than fulcrum-bending radiographs in curves with a Cobb angle > 60 degrees in the standing position and may identify those patients for whom supplementary anterior surgery can be avoided.