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Published on: February 9, 2024
Pain During Sex Before and After Decompressive Surgery for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Multicenter Observational Study
Siril T Holmberg1,2, Vetle Vangen-Lønne1,2, Agnete M Gulati3
1Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Study Design:
Observational multicenter study.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in pain during sexual activity after surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).
Summary Of Background Data:
There are limited data available on sexual function in patients undergoing surgery for LSS.
Methods:
Data were retrieved from the Norwegian Registry for Spine Surgery. The primary outcome was change in pain during sexual activity at 1 year, assessed by item number eight of the Oswestry disability index questionnaire. Secondary outcome measures included Oswestry Disability Index, EuroQol-5D, and numeric rating scale scores for back and leg pain.
Results:
Among the 12,954 patients included, 9908 (76.5%) completed 1-year follow-up. At baseline 9579 patients (73.9%) provided information about pain during sexual activity, whereas 7424 (74.9%) among those with complete follow-up completed this item. Preoperatively 2528 of 9579 patients (26.4%) reported a normal sex-life without pain compared with 4294 of 7424 patients (57.8%) at 1 year. Preoperatively 1007 (10.5%) patients reported that pain prevented any sex-life, compared with 393 patients (5.3%) at 1 year. At baseline 7051 of 9579 patients (73.6%) reported that sexual activity caused pain, and among these 3145 of 4768 responders (66%) reported an improvement at 1 year. A multivariable regression analysis showed that having a life partner, college education, and working until time of surgery were predictors of improvement in pain during sexual activity. Current tobacco smoking, pain duration >12 months, previous spine surgery, and complications occurring within 3 months were negative predictors.
Conclusion:
This study clearly demonstrates that a large proportion of patients undergoing surgery for LSS experienced an improvement in pain during sexual activity at 1 year.Level of Evidence: 2.
