International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Open Access

Abstract

Biomechanics and Management of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Neurodegenerative Disease: Mini-Review

Andrew Montoure, William Curry, Ha S Nguyen, Saman Shabani, Brian D Stemper and Ninh B Doan

Lumbar stenosis is an increasingly common pathology, which causes significant symptoms affecting quality of life, especially in the aging population. The mainstays of treatment employ both conservative and surgical management. Should surgery be required decompression of the lumbar spine via laminectomy or laminotomy has been shown to be effective. The addition of fusion may only benefit in cases with spinal instability. The treatment of lumbar stenosis should include a multifactorial and multidisciplinary approach. Lumbar fusion may lead to an adjacent segment disease as a result of endplate failure by promoting a lumbar alignment with parallel endplates. Upright MRI could be a useful adjunct objective diagnostic option in the future to differentiate symptomatic from asymptomatic patients by evaluating their foraminal geometry.