PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mazanec, Daniel
AU  - Okereke, Linda
TI  - Interpreting the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial
DP  - 2007 Aug 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - 577--583
VI  - 74
IP  - 8
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/74/8/577.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/74/8/577.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2007 Aug 01; 74
AB  - The Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) consisted of two parallel studies: an observational study and a randomized comparison of medical and surgical treatment of disk herniation. In the long term, patients did well with either treatment, and an intention-to-treat analysis found no difference in outcomes. However, at 2 years 40% of patients in the surgical group of the randomized study still hadn’t had surgery, and 40% of the medical patients did have surgery, muddying the results. Surgery was superior according to an analysis by the treatment patients actually received, but the study has been criticized for methodologic shortcomings, and the topic remains controversial.