Long-term effectiveness of combined spine surgery and functional restoration: A prospective study

The present study was designed to evaluate whether chronic low back pain pa tients who underwent surgery combined with functional restoration (n = 43) would demonstrate comparable 1-year socioeconomic outcomes, relative to tho se patients who had not undergone surgery (n = 25). This represents the fir st investigation of patients who underwent spine surgery followed immediate ly by a comprehensive functional restoration program, The study prospective ly evaluated these two groups of consecutive patients, culminating in a str uctured clinical interview 1 year after program completion in order to asse ss socioeconomic outcomes. Results demonstrated that the two groups were co mparable in terms of return-to-work rates, as well as self-reported satisfa ction and perceived helpfulness of the treatment program. Thus, in spite of the common assumption that spine surgery patients fare poorly, especially in a workers' compensation environment, these findings shaw that such patie nts will display successful objective outcomes if surgery is accompanied by effective rehabilitation such as functional restoration.