Artificial Intelligence Enabled Decision Support for Selection of Patients for Lumbar Spine Surgery

Launched by UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF NORTH NORWAY · Jan 30, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is exploring a new tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help doctors decide whether patients should have surgery for back problems, specifically conditions like herniated discs and spinal stenosis. Many patients who have surgery for these issues do not see significant improvement, so the goal is to improve decision-making by providing better information to both patients and doctors. The researchers have developed a decision support tool that is integrated into the hospital's electronic health records, allowing for a more informed discussion about surgery options based on data from a large patient registry.

To participate in this study, patients must have an MRI-confirmed diagnosis of either a herniated disc or spinal stenosis and be referred for surgery evaluation at the University Hospital of North Norway. Eligible participants must be between 18 and 75 years old and able to understand Norwegian. The study will include around 20 patients and 6 surgeons, who will use the new tool during their evaluations. Participants can expect to provide some initial information about their health, which will be used to generate predictions about their potential outcomes after surgery. The researchers aim to ensure that this tool is safe and effective before testing it more widely in future studies.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Patients with MRI-confirmed LDH or LSS referred to University hospital of North Norway Tromsø for assessment of indication for surgery
• • Specialists and physicians in training (for two years or more) in neurosurgery or orthopedic surgery who evaluate such patients at the neurosurgical outpatient clinic at University hospital of North Norway Tromsø
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Patients unable to consent because of
• • Age \< 18 years
• • Serious drug abuse of severe psychiatric disorders
• • Language barriers (patients who cannot speak or read Norwegian)
• • Patients with a baseline ODI ≤14 (LDH) or ≤22 (LSS)
• • Patients undergoing non-elective/emergency operations
• • Patients with degenerative conditions other that LDH and LSS, fractures, primary infections, or malignant conditions of the spine
• • Physicians in training with less than two years' experience with spine surgery