Evidence was assessed from two randomised controlled
trials (188 participants) conducted across two countries
focused to lumbar fusion as a consequence of predominantly
degenerative causes. Both trials included individualised
1:1 management and one trial13 included
group management. Interventions were grouped into
exercise versus behavioural comparisons. One trial was
evaluated as high risk of bias and one as unclear. There
were multiple issues contributing to the high risk of bias
for Christensen et al13 The number of issues did lessen in
subsequent reporting of the Christensen trial,8 32
suggesting that trial reporting was problematic. One
hundred and fifty-nine participants from the two trials
were included in the meta-analyses. The only comparable
outcome across the trials was back pain in the short
(6 months) and long terms (12 months and 2 years).
There was, consequently, limited comparability of
outcomes to evaluate the potential benefits of physiotherapy
intervention. No patients >65 years were
included in either of the two trials. This is problematic
with a documented increase in patients undergoing
lumbar spinal fusion from 2000/2001 to 2009/2010 in
patients in the UK aged 60e74 years of 14%e22% and
aged 75+ years of 2%e6%.2
Results from the trial by Abbott et al,33 which was rated
as unclear risk of bias, indicated no statistically significant
difference across groups (n¼54, n¼53) with regard
to pain, in the short or long term. Although findings
from Christensen et al13 indicated a statistically significant
benefit of behavioural intervention reducing pain
in the short and longer term, there were multiple issues
contributing to the high risk of bias for this trial and low
numbers of participants (n¼29, n¼26 and n¼26 in the
three groups). It is noted that for Christensen et al,13 the
95% CIs were positioned completely within the ‘favours’
behavioural intervention, illustrating some conflict
within the pooled evidence from the two trials. Also of
note were the narrower CIs for Abbott et al33 reflecting
the much larger sample size in that trial. The pooled
random effects of results from the two trials provided no
supporting evidence of an effect. Overall, there was no
evidence that physiotherapy management changes back
pain.