Direct repair surgery with screw fixation for young lumbar spondylolysis patients produces poor one-year outcomes

Lee and colleagues suggest that direct repair has gained popularity in the treatment of younger patients due to its “inherent strengths compared with fusion surgery.” Fusion surgery prevents the affected segment performing its natural motion, thus aggravating degeneration of the adjacent segment. On the other hand, direct repair “preserves the motion in the affected segment and avoids problems” therein. Furthermore, direct repair for lumbar spondylolysis “can produce great outcomes regarding pain relief, functional improvement, and radiological outcomes such as fusion rate.” The authors believe that this is the first study to thoroughly describe “the therapeutic outcomes and significance of direct repair surgery for young patients with lumbar spondylolysis in a prospective interventional design.”

The prospective interventional study enrolled 47 patients with lumbar spine spondylolysis who were surgically treated with direct repair surgery and followed up for one year after surgery. Pain levels were assessed using the visual analogue scale, which was the primary outcome measure. Secondary outcomes included patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes based on Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score and a 12-item short form health survey (SF-12), fusion rate of pars defect based on computed tomographic scans, and surgery-related complications.