NCT03570801

Brief Summary

The purpose of the project is to perform an RCT comparing patient satisfaction and outcome with or without the use of an expert panel. The purpose is also to create a registry to compare the effectiveness of decompression alone versus decompression with fusion for patients with degenerative grade I spondylolisthesis and symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis. Primary analysis will focus on the patients' improvement from baseline patient-reported outcome questionnaires. In addition, the SLIP II registry aims to (i) develop an algorithm which could identify cases in which surgical experts are likely to recommend one treatment (i.e. \>80% of experts recommend one form of treatment) and (ii) develop a radiology-based machine learning algorithm that would prospectively classify patients as either 'stable' or 'unstable.' In addition to patient reported outcomes, step counts will be collected in order to determine the correlation of step count with patient-reported outcomes (ODI and EQ-5D) and the need for re-operation. This registry portion of the study aims to prospectively collect comparative data for these patients treated with either decompression alone or decompression with fusion.

Trial Health

78
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
662

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline
32mo left

Started Oct 2017

Longer than P75 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
2 countries

17 active sites

Status
active not recruiting

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Progress76%
Oct 2017Dec 2028

Study Start

First participant enrolled

October 17, 2017

Completed
8 months until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

June 12, 2018

Completed
15 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

June 27, 2018

Completed
10.5 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

December 31, 2028

Expected
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

December 31, 2028

Last Updated

September 29, 2025

Status Verified

September 1, 2025

Enrollment Period

11.2 years

First QC Date

June 12, 2018

Last Update Submit

September 24, 2025

Conditions

Keywords

Lumbar SpondylolisthesisGrade 1 SpondylolisthesisLumbar Spinal StenosisDegenerative Spondylolisthesis

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

  • EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D)

    Quality of life will be assessed through EuroQol 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) at all time points. Analysis will focus on mean change score as well as the percentage of patients who fail to improve EQ-5D score at each time point. Patients randomized to expert panel review will be compared to those without expert panel review.

    1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years

  • NASS patient satisfaction scale

    The percentage of patients who achieve NASS patient satisfaction score of 1 or 2 will be compared at each time point between those patients who were randomized to an expert panel review or not.

    1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years

Secondary Outcomes (8)

  • Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)

    Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years

  • Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)

    Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years

  • EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D)

    Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years

  • Cost Data -- Hospital Claims & Health Resource Utilization

    3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years

  • Complications

    1 month

  • +3 more secondary outcomes

Study Arms (2)

Expert Panel Review

EXPERIMENTAL

For patients who are randomized to receive an expert panel review, de-identified lumbar MRI (sagittal and key axial images), 36-inch standing plain radiographs (if available), and flexion and extension radiographs will be uploaded into a web-based platform and reviewed. These will be submitted for an Expert Panel Review. Images will be reviewed through a Spine Expert's Network, consisting of physicians involved in this study who will each offer their opinion as to which of two surgical treatment groups (decompression alone or decompression with fusion) they would choose for the patient. The results of this review will be discussed between the patient and the patient's physician. Together, they will determine the best surgical approach.

Other: Expert Panel Review

No Expert Panel Review

NO INTERVENTION

For patients not receiving the expert panel review, they will discuss with their surgeon the best surgical option and proceed as they would in standard of care.

Interventions

There is some preliminary evidence suggesting that having a group of spinal experts review x-rays prior to treatment might provide useful information to the patient and the patients' treating physician when trying to make a decision about what type of surgery to perform.

Expert Panel Review

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis: defined as radicular and/or back pain either induced or aggravated by activity and relieved by rest.
  • Single-level grade I degenerative spondylolisthesis (3-14mm)

You may not qualify if:

  • Serious medical illness (ASA Class IV or higher)
  • Spondylolysis
  • Multilevel spondylolisthesis or high grade spondylolisthesis (grade II or greater than 14mm)

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (17)

Barrow Brain and Spine

Scottsdale, Arizona, 85251, United States

Location

University of California, San Fransisco

San Francisco, California, 94143, United States

Location

University of Miami

Miami, Florida, 33125, United States

Location

Carle Neurosciences Institute

Urbana, Illinois, 61801, United States

Location

Goodman Campbell Brain & Spine

Carmel, Indiana, 46032, United States

Location

Norton Leatherman Spine Center

Louisville, Kentucky, 40202, United States

Location

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States

Location

Lahey Hospital & Medical Center

Burlington, Massachusetts, 01803, United States

Location

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, United States

Location

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, Minnesota, 55902, United States

Location

Hospital for Special Surgery

New York, New York, 10021, United States

Location

Columbia University

New York, New York, 10027, United States

Location

Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Cleveland, Ohio, 44195, United States

Location

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, United States

Location

University of Utah Hospital

Salt Lake City, Utah, 84132, United States

Location

University of Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin, 53792, United States

Location

University Health Network - Toronto Western Hospital

Toronto, Ontario, M5T 2S8, Canada

Location

Related Publications (1)

  • Ghogawala Z, Rizvi TZ, Lin Z, Kanter A, Mummaneni PV, Bisson EF, Albert TJ, Resnick DK, Wang MY, Glassman S, Polly DW Jr, Bydon M, Magge SN, Tumialan LM, Fehlings MG, Steinmetz MP, Whitmore RG, Rajshekhar V, Harrop JS, Hartl R, Ahmed E, Coric D, McCormick PC, Assaker R, Msaddi AK, Holly LT, Kawaguchi Y, Falavigna A, Barker FG 2nd, Benzel EC; SLIP II Investigators. Use of an Expert Panel for Symptomatic Patients With Grade I Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Neurosurgery. 2025 Nov 6. doi: 10.1227/neu.0000000000003838. Online ahead of print.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

SpondylolisthesisSpinal Stenosis

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

SpondylolysisSpondylosisSpinal DiseasesBone DiseasesMusculoskeletal Diseases

Study Officials

  • Zoher Ghogawala, MD

    Lahey Hospital & Medical Center

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
NONE
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Model Details: Randomized Control Trial with randomization ratio 1:1
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

June 12, 2018

First Posted

June 27, 2018

Study Start

October 17, 2017

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2028

Last Updated

September 29, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will share

Deidentified data would be shared with other researchers after primary analysis has been published.

Shared Documents
STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP
Time Frame
After primary analysis has been published for up to 5 years.

Locations