Measuring outcomes in spinal decompression

Spinal decompression outcomes were previously measured with imaging and the patient’s subjective complaints. More recently, patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) were developed with the goal to demonstrate outcome measures more accurately with quantitative data. Questionnaires have been developed and validated to evaluate the severity of a condition and its response to intervention. Validated tools help providers create a more personalized treatment plan. More recently, several questionnaires have been developed and validated to evaluate the severity of a condition and response to intervention. Such data aim to help providers develop a treatment plan and follow the patient to determine treatment efficacy. PROMs have a place not only in the clinical setting, but also in research to help advance the field of interventional spine care. This chapter will focus on instruments for measuring outcomes in spinal decompression.