Physical therapy for spinal stenosis is as effective as surgery and should be fully considered as a first-choice treatment option, according to a new study that is the first to directly compare a single, evidence-based physical therapy regimen with decompression surgery among patients who agreed to be randomly assigned to either approach.
The study focused on self-reported physical function among 169 participants diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) after 2 years, but it also tracked function measurements along the way--at baseline, 10 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months. Researchers found that not only were 2-year effects similar for the 2 groups (87 who began with surgery and 82 who started with physical therapy), the increase in function followed similar trajectories from baseline on.
Research was conducted between 2000 to 2007, and limited to patients 50 years and older who had no previous LSS surgery and had no additional conditions including dementia, vascular disease, metastatic cancer, or a recent history of heart attack.
PT in Motion 04/07/2014