Conservative treatment alternatives for patients with lumbar canal stenosis

Abstract

We performed a retrospective study of conservative treatment alternatives for patients diagnosed with lumbar canal stenosis in our hospital. We divided the subjects into two groups. Group One had conservative treatment only. Group Two had conservative treatment followed by operative therapy. We analyzed the outcomes for both groups based upon symptom reduction using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association Score (JOA score). Sixty persent of patients with radiculopathy without numbness had recovered with conservative treatment only. On the other hand, patients with numbness tend to be resistant to conservative treatment.