Retrospective Assessment of Early Changes in the Sacroiliac Joint After Posterior Lumbar Fusion Surgery via Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Computed Tomography.

Abstract

The need for lumbar-lumbosacral fusion surgery has increased in the recent decade. Although this type of surgical approach has been reported to provide better improvement in low back pain compared with conventional conservative treatments, the ratio of failure varies between 5% and 30% in different studies. This retrospective study was conducted through screening patient files between January 2013 and January 2016. Preoperative and postoperative neurologic examination, Visual Analogue Scale, Oswestry Disability Index, and medical and surgical treatments of 66 patients were evaluated. The data from these 66 patients was included in this study. Of the patients, 28 were male and 38 were female. Mean age was 58.3 years for male and 60.1 years for female subjects. Mean duration of follow-up was 15 months. Our study has revealed that lumbosacral fusion surgery increases sacroiliac joint degeneration. We consider that magnetic resonance imaging is superior to computed tomography for detection of early stage sacroiliac joint degeneration.