Study Design Retrospective subgroup analysis of prospectively collected data according to treatment received. Objective The purpose of this study is to determine if the duration of symptoms affects outcomes following the treatment of spinal stenosis (SS) or degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS). Summary of Background Data The Spine Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) study was designed to provide scientific evidence on the effectiveness of spinal surgery versus a variety of non-operative treatments. Methods An as-treated analysis was performed on patients enrolled in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) for the treatment of SS or DS. A comparison was made between patients with SS with ≤12 months (n=405) and those with >12 months (n=227) duration of symptoms. A comparison was also made between patients with DS with ≤12 months (n=397) and those with >12 months (n=204) duration of symptoms. Baseline patient characteristics were documented. Primary and secondary outcomes were measured at baseline and at regular follow-up time intervals up to 4 years. The difference in improvement among patients whose surgical or nonsurgical treatment began less than or greater than 12 months after the onset of symptoms was measured. In addition, the difference in improvement with surgical versus nonsurgical treatment (treatment effect) was determined at each follow-period for each group. Results At final followup, there was significantly less improvement in primary outcome measures in SS patients with >12 months symptom duration. Primary and secondary outcome measures within the DS group did not differ according to symptom duration. There were no statistically significant differences in treatment effect of surgery in SS or DS patients. Conclusions Patients with spinal stenosis with fewer than twelve months of symptoms experienced significantly better outcomes with surgical and nonsurgical treatment relative to those with symptom duration greater than twelve months. There was no difference in outcome of patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis according to symptom duration.

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Background Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is frequent after joint arthroplasty; in addition to causing patient distress, it interferes with early mobilization and hospital discharge. Various antiemetic agents reduce PONV, but their action is limited by a short half-life. Aprepitant, an antiemetic developed for patients receiving chemotherapy, has a duration of action much longer than other antiemetics. Questions/purposes We asked whether a single dose of preoperative aprepitant (40 mg orally) reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting after THA or TKA. Methods Fifty patients who received a preoperative dose of aprepitant (study group) were matched demographically to 50 patients who did not receive aprepitant (control group) from a group of patients undergoing THA or TKA. Patients' charts were reviewed to identify episodes of PONV, number of doses of antiemetics needed for breakthrough PONV, and length of stay. Aprepitant side effects, and complications. Results Aprepitant reduced the percentage of patients with PONV (39% of study and 70% of control patients). Moderate or severe PONV occurred in 22% of study and 40% of control patients. The number of episodes of PONV during hospitalization was 2.9 for the control group and 1.6 for the study group. Postoperatively, the control group required on average 1.3 doses of ondansetron compared with 0.6 doses for the study group. Hospital length of stay was reduced from 3.3 days for the control group and to 2.3 days for the study group. Conclusions These data suggest a single preoperative dose of aprepitant reduces the number of episodes and severity of PONV, the need for additional antiemetics, and the length of stay. Level of Evidence Level II, prognostic study. See guidelines for authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

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