OBJECTIVE: To compare the quality of life, pain and satisfaction of patients undergoing lumbar isolated decompression neural to those who had posterolateral fusion associated. METHODS: The study enrolled 44 subjects with lumbar herniated discs and/or degenerative central or foraminal stenosis treated surgically. Patients were divided into two groups: "decompression" (D) and "decompression and fusion" (DF). The criteria used to define the need for arthrodesis was the presence of deformity or segmental instability, measured by plain and dynamic radiographs. The patients completed questionnaires regarding postoperative follow-up (use of analgesic medications and satisfaction with the treatment) and visual analog scale for lumbar pain and sciatica. Moreover, the questionnaires Oswestry and SF-36 were administered to assess quality of life. RESULTS: We found excellent results in the Oswestry questionnaire, good levels for the domains "Pain" and "functional capacity" in the SF-36, and low intensity of back pain and sciatica in both groups analyzed, without statistically significant differences between them. CONCLUSIONS: We found no differences in the quality of life, pain and satisfaction in patients undergoing lumbar nerve decompression alone compared to those who had associated fusion, using as a criterion for arthrodesis the presence of deformities and/orsegmental instability.
Spine; Low back pain; Arthrodesis; Surgical Decompression; Quality of life; Sciatica; Diskectomy
