Abstract
The authors evaluated 75 patients who underwent reoperation for lumbar canal stenosis between 2003 and 2011. Both the causes for reoperation and the complications were reviewed. The causes for reoperation were also compared among the first surgical procedures. Symptoms and scores, such as the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) of back pain, were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively. Restenosis accounted for 30% of the reoperations. The reoperation rate did not differ among the first surgical procedures. An additional fixation procedure was conducted in five patients who underwent bilateral fenestration. Adjacent level stenosis tended to occur in the fixation group more than in pure decompression group. Complications were noticed in 10 patients : dural lacerations in 9 patients and a deep-seated infection in one patient. In the elderly patient group, improvement in JOA score was worse than in the younger-aged group.
It is important to understand the causes or features of reoperation in order to improve treatment outcome.
