lumbar spinal stenosis

Last reviewed 10/2020

lumbar spinal stenosis

Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a degenerative condition thought to be caused by changes in the spine seen with the aging resulting in narrowing of the central spinal canal, lateral recess or the neural foramina (1,2).

LSS is currently described as a clinical syndrome of buttock or lower extremity pain, which may occur with or without back pain, associated with diminished space available for the neural and vascular elements in the lumbar spine associated with certain characteristic provocative and palliative features (1)

It is the most common indication for spinal surgery in elderly people (> 65 years)

• affects more than 200,00 people in the USA
• prevalence of diagnosed LSS is expected to rise with the aging of the population and increased use of advanced imaging (2)

Reference:

• (1) Lurie J, Tomkins-Lane C. Management of lumbar spinal stenosis. BMJ. 2016;352:h6234.
• (2) Rajagopal TS, Marshall RW. Focus on understanding and treating spinal stenosis 2010.