ClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT03388983Updated Feb 10, 2021

Effectiveness of Prehabilitation for Patients Undergoing Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Surgery

An interventional study of 6-week prehabilitation in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and Prehabilitation, sponsored by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Status unknown at 1 site in Hong Kong. Open to participants aged 50 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-02-10.

Sponsored by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Feb 2021), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
120
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
50 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a common spinal disease that leads to pain and disability. LSS is defined as lower extremity and perineal symptoms (e.g. intermittent neurogenic claudication/numbness) that may occur with or without low back pain and that is attributed to congenital or acquired narrowing of space available for the neural and vascular tissues in the lumbar spine. Patients with LSS,who do not respond to conservative treatments after 3 months or more, will be eligible for spinal decompression surgery in order to improve functional outcomes.

While various studies have shown that preoperative exercises (prehabilitation) may benefit patients receiving different surgeries (e.g, abdominal surgery, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction), little is known regarding the effect of prehabilitation for patients undergoing LSS surgery.

The aim of the current randomized controlled trial is to compare the effectiveness of a 6-week prehabilitation program with usual preoperative care in improving multiple outcomes of patients undergoing LSS surgery at baseline, 6 weeks after baseline evaluation, and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. It is hypothesized that prehabilitation will yield significantly better pre- and post-operative clinical outcomes as compared to usual preoperative care.

Read the detailed description

Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a common spinal disease that leads to pain and disability. LSS is defined as lower extremity and perineal symptoms (e.g. intermittent neurogenic claudication/numbness) that may occur with or without low back pain and that is attributed to congenital or acquired narrowing of space available for the neural and vascular tissues in the lumbar spine. Clinical symptoms of LSS include pain, numbness, weakness and warmth in bilateral/unilateral buttock or legs that is precipitated by walking or prolonged standing but is alleviated by sitting or forward bending.

Acquired (degenerative) LSS is the most common degenerative conditions that leads to spinal surgery in adults aged 65 years or older.[2] It is known that the occurrence of degenerative LSS increases with age. Given the aging of the global population (including Hong Kong), the prevalence of degenerative LSS is expected to increase. Major causes of degenerative LSS in older adults are the compression and/or ischemia of nerve roots in diminished lateral or central spinal canals secondary to lumbar spondylosis, progressive hypertrophy of ligamentous/osteocartilaginous structures, or degenerative spondylolisthesis. When patients fail to improve after conservative treatments, surgical intervention is recommended for symptomatic LSS. While decompressive laminectomy/laminotomy with or without spinal fusion for LSS has shown significantly less leg symptoms than conservative treatments, up to 40% of patients undergoing LSS surgery were unsatisfied with the postoperative neurogenic claudication and/or radicular leg symptoms. Accordingly, evidence-based management is needed for patients undergoing LSS surgery to optimize patients' recovery.

Various studies have shown that preoperative exercises (prehabilitation) may benefit patients receiving different surgeries (e.g, abdominal surgery, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction). Although there is a paucity of prehabilitation for patients undergoing LSS surgery. the potential benefits of prehabilitation substantiate the investigation of prehabilitation for patients undergoing LSS surgery.

Given the above, the aim of the current randomized controlled trial is to compare the effectiveness of a 6-week prehabilitation program with usual preoperative care in improving multiple outcomes of patients undergoing LSS surgery at baseline, 6 weeks after baseline evaluation, and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. It is hypothesized that prehabilitation will yield significantly better pre- and post-operative clinical outcomes as compared to usual preoperative care.

02

Conditions studied

  • Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
  • Prehabilitation

Keywords

  • Prehabilitation
  • Physical activity
  • Lumbar decompression surgery
  • Randomized controlled trial
03

In context

Spinal Stenosis

458 studies on the registry are indexed under Spinal Stenosis; 105 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 120 is above the median of 80 across 281 interventional studies indexed under Spinal Stenosis.

Browse Spinal Stenosis studies →

Lead sponsor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is the lead sponsor of 679 studies on the registry; 257 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
50 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • signs of neurogenic claudication
  • radiological signs of degenerative LSS on magnetic resonance images or computed tomography images
  • radiculopathy with or without low back pain for more than 3 months that is unresponsive to conservative intervention
  • Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) > 30 out of 100
  • patients undergoing open or minimally invasive laminotomy/laminectomy
  • willing to complete pre- and post-operative questionnaires and physical assessments at prescheduled time points

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • inability to read, speak and understand English/Chinese
  • inability to give
  • surgical management for lumbar fractures, tumors, synovial cysts, and scoliosis correction
  • any revision lumbar spine surgery, (5) diagnosis of chronic pain conditions (e.g. fibromyalgia)
  • presence of a neurological or systematic neuromuscular diseases (e.g. multiple sclerosis, stroke, or rheumatoid arthritis)
  • planning for spinal fusion
  • discogenic nerve compression or instability (flexion-extension X-ray film shows > 5mm of sagittal-plane translation)
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
120 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    6-week prehabilitation group

    6-week prehabilitation

    Other: 6-week prehabilitation

  • No intervention
    Control group

    Patients will receive standard preoperative care (including information about the surgery from an orthopedic surgeon, and a pamphlet summarizing tips of maintaining proper posture and staying active). The usual postoperative care does not include routine rehabilitation program though a short course of rehabilitation may be given based on orthopedic surgeons' discretion.

Interventions

  • Other6-week prehabilitation

    Participants will be trained at 3 sessions/week for 6 weeks before the surgery to enhance the overall muscle strength, endurance and spinal stability. A physiotherapist/physical trainer in the participating hospital will supervise the preoperative training. The 45-minute exercise regime will include warm-up and cool-down exercises, and a cardiovascular training on a stationary bicycle, stabilization exercises with emphasis on co-contraction of abdominal and back muscles, and hip raise and hip abduction exercises. The number of repetitions and sets of each exercise will be determined based on individual's ability. Each exercise will be slightly modified based on individual progress. The exercise intensity and complexity will be increased over time.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Chinese/English Version Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)

    The ODI comprises 10 questions covering areas related to: pain intensity, personal care, lifting, walking, sitting, standing, sleeping, social life, sexual life and traveling.

    Time frame: 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Pain medication

    Dosage of pain medication taken by the participant each day will be recorded.

    Time frame: 6 months

  2. Duration of hospital stay

    The length of hospital stay will be documented

    Time frame: 6 months

  3. 11-point numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) for measuring back/leg pain

    The current back/leg pain intensity of each participant will be quantified by an 11-point NPRS, where 0 means no pain and 10 means the worst imaginable pain.

    Time frame: 6 months

  4. Physical activity monitoring

    An ActiGraph sensor will be used to quantify physical activity level of patients before and after surgery at different time points.

    Time frame: 6 months

  5. The Chinese version of EuroQol-5D-3L for measuring quality of life

    The Chinese version of EuroQol-5D-3L questionnaire comprises the EQ-5D descriptive system and the EQ visual analogue scale (VAS). The descriptive system involves 5 domains: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Each domain has three levels of responses: no problems, some problems, extreme problems. The participant chooses the most appropriate statement in each domain. The EQ VAS quantifies the respondent's perceived health-related quality of life on a vertical VAS where 0 means 'worst imaginable health state', and 100 means 'best imaginable health state'.

    Time frame: 6 months

  6. Swiss Spinal Stenosis Questionnaire

    This self-administered questionnaire comprises 18 questions in three subscales: 6 questions in the symptom severity scale (ranging from 1 to 5), 6 questions in the physical function scale (ranging from 1 to 4), and 6 questions in the patient's satisfaction with treatment scale (ranging from 1 to 4). The result is expressed as a percentage of the maximum possible score. A higher score indicates more disability.

    Time frame: 6 months

  7. International Physical Activity Questionnaire

    International Physical Activity Questionnaire (Chinese short-form version) is a 9-item questionnaire aiming to monitor an individual's leisure-time physical activity, work/transport-related physical activity, and domestic/gardening physical activity over the last 7-day period. Based on the duration, frequency and intensity of the reported physical activity, a person will be classified as physically inactive, minimally active, and health-enhancing physically active.

    Time frame: 6 months

  8. Clinical Global Impression of Change

    The patient's perceived changes immediately after the prehabilitation will be measured by the Clinical Global Impression of Change scale, which is a 7-point numerical rating scale. The value of 1 indicates very much improved, while 7 means very much worse. It will help evaluate the effect of prehabilitation

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Queen Mary Hospital
    Hong Kong, Hong Kong
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Aug 2018 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Mar 2022, 43 months after the start.

Of 105 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Spinal Stenosis, half reached primary completion within 30 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 11 and three quarters within 46. This study's planned 43 months is above that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 123 studies reached it within 30 months; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 50.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Dec 23, 2017
First posted
Jan 3, 2018
StartActual
Aug 10, 2018
Primary completionEst.
Mar 31, 2022
CompletionEst.
Jun 30, 2022
Last update
Feb 10, 2021
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 10, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03388983
Collaborators
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, The University of Hong Kong
Responsible party
Dr Arnold Wong Yu Lok (Assistant Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jan 3, 2018
Start date
Aug 10, 2018
Primary completion
Mar 31, 2022 (estimated)
Completion
Jun 30, 2022 (estimated)
Last update
Feb 10, 2021

Study contacts

Arnold Wong, PhD
Contact
arnold.wong@polyu.edu.hk
+852 2766 6741
Arnold Wong, PhD
principal investigator · The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is status unknown, as verified in Feb 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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