Degenerative Spinal Cord Disease Clinical Trial
Official title:
Single-Level TLIF: Post-Fusion Rehabilitation
This investigation will assess how the timing and type of rehabilitation after a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion will affect the efficacy of the surgical procedure. The efficacy of the procedure will be evaluated through patients' quality of life, measured by health-related quality of life questionnaires up to 24 months following the procedure. These measures will be compared to the patients' baseline value.
Patients will undergo transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for degenerative pathology at the L4-5 vertebral level. They will be randomized to one of three postoperative rehabilitation groups. Group 1 will receive "structured early rehabilitation" beginning at 7 weeks. Group 2 will receive "Delayed rehabilitation" beginning at 13 weeks postoperatively. Group 3 will undergo "Self Rehabilitation" beginning at 7 weeks postoperatively. Groups 1 and 2 will undergo rehabilitation under the supervision of a certified physical therapist for 10 total weeks. Group 3 will undergo non-supervised rehabilitation for 10 total weeks, and will be given educational materials regarding which exercises to perform and at which intervals. ;