title: Unilateral laminectomy for bilateral decompression of lumbar spinal stenosis: a prospective comparative study with conservatively treated patients.
abstract: The authors performed single- or multiple-level unilateral laminectomy to treat lumbar spinal stenosis in patients with mild to moderate leg pain and compared the results with those from patients treated with conservative therapy in a prospective study. This decompression technique produced a 68% rate of improvement compared with a 33% rate for conservatively treated patients. The surgical group exhibited significant and sustained improvement, whereas the functional and clinical status of the conservatively managed group had returned to baseline during the same period. The preoperative dural sac cross-sectional area at the level of the most stenosis was 70.76 +/- 28.2 mm(2) for the surgical group, whereas on postoperative scans it was 108.12 +/- 31.5 mm(2), with an average correction rate of 65%. Neither new degenerative spondylolisthesis nor any evidence of instability was detected in any patient during the study.
authors.affiliation: II Orthopaedic Clinic, School of Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy. maricond@unina.it
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mariconda
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fava
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gatto
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Milano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016014:Linear Models; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013130:Spinal Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy