This study sought to determine whether the functional outcome of two common spinal operations could be improved by a programme of post-operative rehabilitation and/or an educational booklet each compared with usual care. This was a multi-centre, factorial, randomised controlled trial on the post operative management of spinal surgery patients, with randomisation stratified by surgeon and operative procedure. The study compared the effectiveness of a rehabilitation programme and an education booklet for the postoperative management of patients undergoing discectomy or lateral nerve root decompression surgery, each compared with “usual care” using a 2 × 2 factorial design, randomising patient to four groups; rehabilitation-only, booklet-only, rehabilitation-plus-booklet, and usual care only. The primary outcome measure was the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at 12 months, with secondary outcomes including visual analogue scale measures of back and leg pain. An economic analysis was also performed.Introduction
Methods
