Affiliations: Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Yorck Rommelspacher, Clinic for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany. Tel.: +49 228 287 19893; E-mail: forschung-ortho-unfall@ukbonn.de.
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Musculature affected during spondylodesis surgery may benefit and recover faster if supported by spine orthosis postoperatively. METHODS: This prospective study included 50 consecutive patients undergoing one- or two-level spondylodesis. The intervention group received a lumbar spine orthosis (n= 23), while the control group remained without orthosis (n= 27). Patients were assessed for pain (Visual Analogue Scale, VAS), Oswestry Disability index (ODI) as well as the use of analgesics. RESULTS: Patients wearing an orthosis postoperatively reported a higher degree of subjective stability. However, both intervention as well as control group did not show any significant differences for each of the follow-up points regarding VAS, ODI or the use of analgesics. CONCLUSION: Wearing an orthosis has neither impact on subjective pain, the need for analgesics nor for postoperative functionality. However, patients reported that they profited from wearing the orthosis by feeling more stable, thereby nicely improving their postoperative mobility. Thus, novel patient reported outcome measures have to be developed to assess these features in future studies.
