Abstract
We performed laminectomy on patients with lumbar canal stenosis for the decompression of the lumbar spine. Instability of the lumbar spine is a serions postoperative complication. In this paper, 88 patients with lumbar canal stenosis without degenerative spondylolisthesis were reviewed in clinical and radiographical investigation. 28 patients were famale and 60 were male. The mean age was 64.1 years (range, 33-84). The average follow-up time was 30.2 months (range, 11-73). 23 patients were treated with total laminectomy and 65 were treated with partial laminectomy. The postoperative results were evaluated with the JOA score. The mean preoperative JOA score was 14.4 points and the mean postoperative JOA score was 23.1 points. The recovery rate was 59.8%. Postoperative instability of the lumbar spine was found in 9 patients (10.2%), but postoperative instability did not always correlate with the clinical symptoms. Thus, laminectomy is a safe and useful procedure for lumbar canal stenosis without degenerative spondylolisthesis.
