2009 Volume 18 Issue 12 Pages 899-906
Unilateral microscopic fenestration is a less invasive surgical technique as it preserves the contralateral paraspinal muscles as well as posterior components such as inter- and supra-spinous ligaments. The authors studied a consecutive series of patients aged 65 and over with lumbar canal stenosis (dividing into two groups, the early-staged elderly of age 65〜74 and latter-staged elderly of age 75 and over), in whom unilateral microscopic fenestration surgery was performed. From June 2003 to February 2008, 65 consecutive patients with a mean age of 73.2 years were operated upon using this technique and followed-up for a mean period of 20.7 months. Overall improvements were achieved in 89.2% of intermittent claudication, in 57.6% of radiculopathic symptom and in 69.0% of lumbago. While the latter-staged elderly have more co-existing illness, they showed outcomes as favorable as the early-staged elderly in terms of the results, post-operative compilations and hospital days. Thus, less invasive surgery can be successfully performed also in elderly patients of age 75 and over with acceptable morbidity rates.
