Does surgical treatment of grade 2 spondylolisthesis have sustained improvement in postoperative outcomes regardless of age? A Spine CORe™ analysis of QOD data

OBJECTIVE: Surgical intervention for grade 2 lumbar spondylolisthesis is routinely performed, but outcomes in older patients, in whom the disease is most prevalent, remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to compare patient-reported surgical outcomes between age groups (< 65 years of age vs ≥ 65 years of age) with 5 years of follow-up. The authors hypothesized that patients would have sustained improvement in outcomes in response to surgical treatment for grade 2 spondylolisthesis regardless of age. METHODS: The multicenter prospectively collected Quality Outcomes Database by the Spine CORe™ study group was retrospectively analyzed for patients who underwent arthrodesis for grade 2 lumbar spondylolisthesis. Across 14 high-enrolling sites, 328 patients with 81% follow-up were identified. Baseline and postoperative 3-month, 1-year, 2-year, and 5-year outcomes including numeric rating scale (NRS) back pain (score 0-10), NRS leg pain (score 0-10), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), EQ-5D scores, and patient satisfaction using the North American Spine Society (NASS) index, were evaluated. These outcomes were compared between younger (< 65 years of age, n = 188) and older (≥ 65 years of age, n = 140) age groups using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. RESULTS: EQ-5D and ODI scores were significantly improved postoperatively in the younger and older age groups (p < 0.001). ODI scores were not significantly different between the age groups at baseline (p = 0.37) or postoperatively at any time point (p > 0.05). EQ-5D scores were not significantly different between the younger and older patient groups at baseline (p = 0.47) or postoperatively at any time point (p > 0.05). NRS leg pain (p = 0.68) and back pain (p = 0.45) scores were not significantly different at baseline across age groups. NRS leg pain was not significantly different postoperatively (p > 0.05). Older patients had lower back pain scores (p = 0.03) at 3 months postoperatively, but not at any other time points (p > 0.05). Leg and back pain scores improved postoperatively up to 5 years of follow-up in all patients (p < 0.0001). A majority of the younger (83.5%) and older (89.5%) patients reported satisfaction with their surgical outcome up to 5 years after surgery, and postoperative NASS satisfaction scores were not significantly different between the younger and older age groups at any time point (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In response to surgical treatment, patients over 65 years of age have significant improvements similar to those of younger patients. Surgical treatment is a viable option for improvement regardless of age.