Short term Follow-up of Laminectomy Results in Patients over 60 Year Old who with Lumbar Canal Stenosis

Lumbar spinal stenosis syndrome results from narrowing of the spinal canal, nerve root canal or the intervertebral foramen and leading to compression of the spinal cord or nerve roots correspondingly. Spinal stenosis syndrome affects mainly patients at their 5th-6th decades of life. In older patients condition may increase the operative risk or could be a predictor of worse outcome. This prospective study was done in a group of 50 consecutive patients, older than 60 with lumbar spinal stenosis. We measured with Japanese orthopaedic association score (JOA) completed pre-operatively and at least 6 month postoperatively. We used the JOA for outcome measurement. The study group includes 25 males and 25 females, the mean age of patients were 67.28 and 66.84 respectively. Overall 86% of the patients had excellent or good results. The most affected levels were L4 and L5. No mortality was noted in this series. Major complication was dural tear in one patient. Decompresive laminectomy is palliative in selected elderly patients with spinal canal stenosis with symptom who didn’t respond to conservative treatment. As a result surgery should be considered as a treatment option in these patients.