Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT): Degenerative Spondylolisthesis With Spinal Stenosis

This study tests the effectiveness of different treatments for the three most commonly diagnosed conditions of the lower backbone (lumbar spine). The purpose is to learn which of two commonly prescribed treatments (surgery and nonsurgical therapy) works better for specific types of low back pain. In this part of the study, we will treat patients with spinal stenosis (a narrowing of spaces in the backbone that results in pressure on the spinal cord and/or nerve roots) caused by degenerative spondylolisthesis (a condition in which one vertebra, or spinal bone, slips forward on another) with either surgery or nonsurgical methods. This study does not cover the cost of treatment.