Abstract
Background: Extreme lumbar spinal stenosis was thought to be a relative contraindication for lumbar lateral interbody fusion (LLIF) and was excluded in most studies. This is a retrospective study to analyze the radiographic and clinical outcome of LLIF for extreme lumbar spinal stenosis of Schizas grade D.Methods: For radiographic analysis, we included 202 segments from 124 patients who underwent LLIF between June 2017 and December 2018. Lumbar spinal stenosis was graded according to Schizas’ classification. Anterior and posterior disc heights, disc angle, foramen height, spinal canal diameter and central canal area were measured on CT and MRI. For clinical analysis, 18 patients with at least one segment of grade D were included. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores were used to evaluate clinical outcome. Continuous variables were confronted by using Student's t-test, obtaining a statistically significant difference for values inferior to 0.05.Results: Among the 202 segments included for radiological evaluation, there were 42 grade A segments, 41 grade B segments, 101 grade C segments and 18 grade D segments. Postoperatively, the average change of midsagittal canal diameter of grade D was significantly greater than that of grade A, and not significantly different compared to grades B and C. As to the average changes of disc height, bilateral foraminal height, disc angle and central canal area (CCA), grade D was not significantly different from the others. The average postoperative CCA of grade D was significantly smaller than the average preoperative CCA of grade C. Eighteen patients with grade D stenosis were followed up for an average of 19.61 ± 6.32 months. Clinical evaluation revealed an average improvement in the ODI and VAS scores for back and leg pain by 20.77%, 3.67 and 4.15 points, respectively. Sixteen of 18 segments with grade D underwent posterior decompression.Conclusion: The radiographic decompression effect of LLIF for Schizas grade D segments were comparable with that of other grades. Posterior decompression was necessary for LLIF to achieve a satisfactory clinical outcome for extreme lumbar spinal stenosis of Schizas grade D.
Clinical Outcomes for Neurogenic Claudication Using a Multimodal Program for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Retrospective Study
