The role of bone SPECT/CT in patients with persistent or recurrent lumbar pain following lumbar spine stabilization surgery
The proportion of patients with abnormal activity in the adjacent segments increased to 67.3% at >6 years after LSSS (p < 0.05). Positive SPECT/CT findings in the stabilized segments were more frequent in patients with three or more stabilized segments (p < 0.05), but were not more frequent in the adjacent segments. Overall, positive SPECT/CT guided therapy in 64% of patients, which included facet joint/nerve root injections or re-do surgery at active sites and/or adjacent sites.Bone SPECT/CT is a sensitive diagnostic tool for identifying altered osteoblastic activity, which might be a pain generator in patients with persistent/recurrent pain after lumbar surgery especially when conventional imaging is inconclusive.
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