Ali Salame , Manuela L Ferreira , Harrison J Hansford , Chris G Maher , Joshua R Zadro , Chung-Wei Christine Lin , Ashish Diwan , James H McAuley , Mark J Hancock , Ian A Harris , Giovanni E Ferreira
{"title":"The smallest worthwhile effect of surgery versus non-surgical treatments for sciatica: a benefit-harm trade-off study","authors":"Ali Salame , Manuela L Ferreira , Harrison J Hansford , Chris G Maher , Joshua R Zadro , Chung-Wei Christine Lin , Ashish Diwan , James H McAuley , Mark J Hancock , Ian A Harris , Giovanni E Ferreira","doi":"10.1016/j.jphys.2025.02.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jphys.2025.02.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Question</h3><div>What is the smallest worthwhile (SWE) effect of discectomy compared with non-surgical treatments amongst people with sciatica?</div></div><div><h3>Design</h3><div>Benefit-harm trade-off study.</div></div><div><h3>Participants</h3><div>People with sciatica of any duration living in Australia and recruited through social media.</div></div><div><h3>Outcome</h3><div>The outcome of interest was leg pain intensity. Participants were asked to nominate the additional percentage reduction in leg pain from discectomy––above the reduction anticipated from non-surgical treatments––that would make discectomy worthwhile for them. The SWE was estimated as the median (IQR) of the smallest percentage reduction in leg pain with discectomy (compared with non-surgical treatment) that participants considered worthwhile. The SWE was estimated for the overall sample and those with acute (≤ 6 weeks), subacute (> 6 to 12 weeks) and chronic (> 12 weeks) sciatica, and investigated factors associated with the SWE.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Two hundred participants with a mean age of 59 years (SD 12) were included. The SWE was estimated to be an additional 15% (IQR 10 to 40) reduction in leg pain with discectomy, beyond any reduction in leg pain achieved by non-surgical treatments. Dissatisfaction with previous non-surgical treatments and low pain self-efficacy were associated with smaller SWE estimates.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>People with sciatica would require discectomy to provide an additional 15% reduction in their leg pain beyond the expected 50% improvement in leg pain from non-surgical treatments in the short term to consider discectomy worthwhile. These results can inform the interpretation of the effects of discectomy in randomised trials and meta-analysis from the perspective of consumers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physiotherapy","volume":"71 2","pages":"Pages 125-131"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143694144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clinimetrics: The vertical single leg hop test","authors":"Justin M Losciale , Christina Y Le","doi":"10.1016/j.jphys.2025.02.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jphys.2025.02.010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physiotherapy","volume":"71 2","pages":"Page 136"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143694207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Critically appraised paper: In adults on mechanical ventilation with weaning difficulties, high-intensity inspiratory muscle training did not improve the weaning success rate compared with sham inspiratory muscle training [commentary]","authors":"Meg Harrold","doi":"10.1016/j.jphys.2025.02.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jphys.2025.02.004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physiotherapy","volume":"71 2","pages":"Page 134"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143694210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Critically appraised paper: In-bed cycle ergometry in mechanically ventilated patients is safe but does not improve physical function after intensive care discharge [commentary]","authors":"Ianthe Boden","doi":"10.1016/j.jphys.2024.11.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jphys.2024.11.016","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physiotherapy","volume":"71 2","pages":"Page 132"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143774703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Critically appraised paper: An individualised, progressive walking and education intervention reduces the risk of low back pain recurrence [synopsis]","authors":"Nina Østerås","doi":"10.1016/j.jphys.2024.09.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jphys.2024.09.006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physiotherapy","volume":"71 1","pages":"Page 57"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142367143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Research Note: Economic evaluations in physiotherapy","authors":"Johanna M van Dongen , Judith E Bosmans","doi":"10.1016/j.jphys.2024.10.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jphys.2024.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physiotherapy","volume":"71 1","pages":"Pages 66-71"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142830432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Critically appraised paper: In rural youth, the iAmHealthy paediatric weight management intervention stabilises body mass index z-scores and impacts health behaviours compared with newsletters with similar content [synopsis]","authors":"Nikki Milne","doi":"10.1016/j.jphys.2024.11.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jphys.2024.11.007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49153,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physiotherapy","volume":"71 1","pages":"Page 59"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142808294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}