Spinal fusion

In medicine, spinal fusion is "operative immobilization or ankylosis of two or more vertebrae by fusion of the vertebral bodies with a short bone graft or often with diskectomy or laminectomy."

Effectiveness
Several systematic reviews of spinal fusion for chronic nonspecific lumbalgia have been performed."Surgery for radiculopathy with herniated lumbar disc and symptomatic spinal stenosis is associated with  short-term benefits compared to nonsurgical therapy, though benefits  diminish with long-term follow-up in some trials" according to one systematic review. "Surgery may be more efficacious than unstructured nonsurgical care for chronic back pain but may not be  more efficacious than structured cognitive-behavior therapy" according to one systematic review.

Several randomized controlled trials of spinal fusion for chronic nonspecific lumbalgia have been performed.