Surgical decompression is the recommended treatment for patients with moderate to severe degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS). Although complication risk has been shown to be higher with concomitant fusion, the success rate is not necessarily superior. This study analyzed the success rates of 58 DLSS patients treated with decompressive surgery. Twenty patients received concomitant instrumented fusion. Outcomes were measured with the Swiss Spinal Stenosis Questionnaire (SSSQ) completed pre-operatively and at least 12 months post-operatively (range 12 to 54 months). Overall, 63.8% of the patients had significant clinical improvement in Symptom Severity, 55.2% had significant clinical improvement in Physical Function, and 58.6% of the patients were at least somewhat satisfied; 43.1% (25/58) of the patients met all three criteria and were considered to be clinically successful. There were no statistically significant differences between the clinical success rates of the non-fusion and fusion groups, but the change in mean change of the Symptom Severity score for the fusion group was significantly greater than that of the non-fusion group. Also, patients with more severe pre-operative symptoms and more physical function restrictions had better success results than those patients with more mild symptoms and less restrictive physical function. The results of this study demonstrate that decompressive surgery with concomitant fusion does not impose a greater risk than decompressive surgery alone and the clinical results of the added fusion are somewhat superior to decompressive surgery alone.

Periprosthetic bone loss is identified after inserting a hip prosthesis and is many times a result of stress shielding or altered loading of the proximal femur. Depending on the severity, the bone loss may threaten the prosthesis survival. The current study investigated the effect of cyclic etidronate therapy on periprosthetic and contralateral bone mineral density (BMD) in an one-year, prospective, randomized, double-blind study on 46 patients after cemented hip arthroplasty. Etidronate was administered orally in a regimen repeated every 14 weeks and periprosthetic BMD was measured with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in the total periprosthetic area and in the seven Gruen Zones at 1 week (baseline), 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months postoperatively. In the etidronate group there were significant temporal BMD decreases measured in Gruen Zones 2, 3, 6, and 7 as well as in the entire proximal femur; the greatest decrease was 11.1% and was measured in Zone 2 at 12 months. Also in the etidronate group, there was a significant 3.4% increase in BMD of the spine at 12 months. In the placebo group there were significant temporal BMD decreases measured in Gruen Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 as well as in the entire proximal; the greatest decrease was 16.4% and was measured in Zone 7 at 12 months. There were no significant differences between the mean BMD measurements of the etidronate and placebo groups with the exception of the mean percent change in the spine at 6 months and 12 months, and in Gruen Zone 3 at 6 months; in all three cases the etidronate group had significantly greater mean values. These findings suggest that cyclic etidronate therapy has no significant effect in surpressing the periprosthetic bone loss following cemented hip arthroplasty.