Clinical Study on Enlargement of the Lumbar Vertebral Canal in Lumbar Canal Stenosis

Lumbar canal stenosis has been paid attention in clinic since Verbiest first reported on 1954. A wide laminectomy is the most widely accepted method for the surgical treatment. However, the method has some disadvantages, such as instability of the lumbar spine after operation and or complaint of fatigue or weakness at the lumbar region. In order to overcome the disadvantages we have developed a method of enlargement of the lumbar vertebral canal. This method is based on osteoplastic bilateral laminectomy (Kondo) and is also able to get sufficient decompression of the dura and/or the nerve roots in a wide exposure. After laminae are removed as a whole, the ventral Side of the laminae is eliminated by a surgairtom and the laminae are put back and fixed with screws. Fourteen patients with lumbar canal stenosis have been treated with this method in our clinic. In this paper the author reported the surgical method and its indication, also reported the clinical symptoms and signs of the patients and investigated the transition between before and after the operation, including the follow-up results. Satisfactory results were obtained after the operation and were maintaintained at the follow-up. By X-ray analysis satisfactory results were also confirmed, such as union of the laminae which were cut. Therefore the author believes that ”enlargement of the lumbar vertebral canal” is an excellent method for the patients with lumbar canal stenosis.