Research Projects
Low Back Fusion Surgery Study
A new study, looking at of OP-1 and Infuse in lumbar spinal fusion surgery, is in progress. OP-1 and Infuse are proteins that have been shown to improve bone formation when mixed with patients local bone as compared to just local bone in the surgical procedure for spinal fusion.
Patients who have had a primary lumbar surgery with the use of OP-1 or Infuse are invited to participate.
This retrospective study will characterize the successes and failures associated with OP-1 and Infuse in lumbar spinal surgery by looking at the clinical and radiological outcomes following surgery. The study will improve our understanding of Bone Morphogenic Proteins (BMP) in spinal surgery and will aid the clinicians’ ability to provide informed consent as to the risks and benefits of using them.
This study is being funded by the Queensland Orthopaedic Trust. The Queensland Orthopaedic Research Trust (QORT) was established by the Queensland Branch of the Australian Orthopaedic Association.
Pain after low back surgery study.
The study is an observational one, monitoring the early recurrence of leg pain post discectomy surgery. It is a collaborative project between Brispine, Paul Licina Medical and Stephen Boyd PT.
The outcome measures are Visual Analogue Scores for back and leg pain, a pain diagram and a medication log which is completed daily for the first 3 weeks post-op. There is also a Oswestry Disability and Visual Analogue Score for leg and back score recorded pre-operatively and at 6 weeks post-op. In addition, a Roland-Morris Questionnaire is completed at 4 time points in the first 3 weeks.
These outcome measures will help us establish whether a significant proportion of patients do get a recurrence of leg pain post-discectomy surgery and also what kind of pain medication our patients use to manage post-operative pain.
An extension of this study could be a randomised controlled trial with a pain medication such as Lyrica ( which is specific to neuropathic pain) and placebo and/or a standard analgesic.
This observational study coincides with the introduction of an activity guide for post-discectomy patients which was a collaborative effort between the two surgeons and Stephen Boyd Physiotherapy. In additional to this, the physiotherapy exercise programs have been revised and separated into 3 time periods; 0-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks and 4-6 weeks.