Abstract
Study Design: a retrospective study.Summary of Background Data: Long-level spinal instrumented fusion for DLS by intention eliminated spinal motion in an attempt to alleviate pain, improve deformity, and reduce disability. However, this surgery considerably impaired performance of activities of daily living (ADL) due to the resulting stiffness. The lumbar stiffness disability index (LSDI) was a validated measure of the effect of lumbar stiffness on functional activity, however, which might not be fully applicable to elderly Chinese population because of their several special lifestyles.Objective: To evaluate the lumbar stiffness in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS) after long-level fusion by Chinese-LSDI (C-LSDI).Methods: 129 DLS patients underwent long-level (≧4 levels) fusion surgery with at least one-year follow-up were included. The C-LSDI was designed by modifying LSDI and Korean-LSDI (K-LSDI) considering elderly Chinese lifestyles, and the patient-reported outcome questionnaire measuring the impact of lumbar stiffness on functional abilities in elderly Chinese with DLS was assessed for internal consistency and retest repeatability.Results: All patients showed increased lumbar stiffness with significantly improvement in pain and deformity postoperatively, and for items of performing personal hygiene after toileting and getting out of a car, people performed more inconvenient with increasing fixed levels. Compared with LSDI and K-LSDI, the C-LSDI demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.902) and retest reliability (ICC=0.904) in the elderly Chinese population. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the C-LSDI questionnaire was a reliable and valid instrument for assessing functional limitations due to lumbar stiffness among elderly Chinese patients with DLS after long-level fusion. Although the effects of stiffness did trend toward greater impacts among patients underwent longer fusions, most patients were satisfied with trade-offs of function and pain relief in exchange for perceived increases in lumbar stiffness.
Outcome of Surgical Treatment for Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis
