Research Progress Related to Spinal Stenosis

The NIAMS and other federal agencies are supporting several research projects related to spinal stenosis. For example:

• Managing chronic low back pain. The NIH Back Pain Research Consortium (BACPAC) is a patient-centered research initiative to improve understanding of the condition and generate new tools for better targeting of existing and new therapies.
• NIAMS-supported researchers have published results from the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT), the largest trial to date comparing surgical and nonsurgical interventions for the treatment of low back and associated leg pain caused by spinal stenosis. The study found that for people with spinal stenosis, surgical treatment was more effective than nonsurgical treatment in relieving symptoms and improving function. However, the functional status of people who received nonsurgical therapies also improved somewhat during the study.
• Continued follow-up of participants in the SPORT trial will assess long-term outcomes and the cost effectiveness of surgical or nonsurgical management of spinal stenosis and other back problems.
• SPORT researchers have developed web-based tools that allow patients with low back disorders to apply the best clinical evidence to their individual circumstances and make more informed treatment choices about back surgery. A strong collaboration of researchers will develop, validate, and evaluate novel methods for disseminating individualized risk and benefit information.
• Researchers studied the effectiveness of spinal epidural treatments using numbing medications, with and without corticosteroids. The Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injections for Spinal Stenosis (LESS) trial showed treatments that use both numbing medications and corticosteroids only provided a small amount of benefit over epidural treatments that just used numbing medications.
• Researchers are working to identify optimal approaches for the prevention and early treatment of the many underlying causes of spinal stenosis, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Paget’s disease.