Posterolateral Fusion Surgery with Decompression: An Effective Treatment Option for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive description of our experience in treating lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patients and the clinical outcomes and postoperative complications of surgical decompression and non-instrumented posterolateral fusion.
Methods: It’s an observational descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 124 consecutive patients operated for the first time for lumber spinal stenosis.
Results: A total of 124 patients operated for the first time for lumber spinal stenosis during the study period. The mean age was 63.8±11.6 years. Women were slightly predominant compared to men (52.4% vs. 47.6%). The mean Oswestry disability index differed statistically significantly between time points (F (1.93, 237.798) = 6995.59, P < 0.0001) between all the periods (Figure 1). Similarly for Zurich Claudication Questionnaire score over time, the mean also was significantly different between time points (F (2, 246) = 70.828, P < 0.0001).
Conclusion: Posterolateral fusion surgery with decompression was found to be an effective treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis. This approach involves fusion without instrumentation, which reduces both operating time and intraoperative complications. It also leads to faster post-operative mobilization and less pain. Therefore, it is suggested that posterolateral noninstrumented fusion surgery with decompression be considered as a primary treatment option for lumbar spinal stenosis.