LUMBAR CANAL STENOSIS: AN ANATOMICAL AND CLINICAL STUDY
Ehab Mostafa Elzawawy and Wael Ahmed Foaad*
Departments of Anatomy and Neurosurgery* Alexandria University
Lumber canal stenosis is an increasingly recognized condition in patients more than 50 years of age. It is a major cause of low backache. It usually occurs when the bony ring of the lumbar vertebra is affected by degenerative changes of osteoarthritis. This study was done to find out the incidence of lumbar canal stenosis in Egyptian adults. The study included measurements of the lumbar spinal canal in 100 lumbar vertebrae taken from adult skeletons and 40 patients with lumbar canal stenosis diagnosed on clinical and radiological basis. Pure skeletal (congenital) lumbar canal stenosis was found in 10% of studied vertebrae. Congenital stenosis was found in 10% while degenerative stenosis was found in 90% of patients. Decompression of the stenosed canal by interlaminar fenestrations and laminoplasty gave relief from backache and intermittent claudication in 75% of patients while 20% remained stationary and only 5% deteriorated.
June 2012