title: One-year outcome evaluation after interspinous implantation for degenerative spinal stenosis with segmental instability.
abstract: The authors hypothesized that the placement of the interspinous implant would show a similar clinical outcome to the posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) in patients having spinal stenosis with mild segmental instability and that this method would be superior to PLIF without significantly affecting degeneration at the adjacent segments. Forty two adult patients having degenerative spinal stenosis with mild segmental instability who underwent implantation of Coflex (Spine motion, Germany) or PLIF at L4-5 between January 2000 and December 2003 were consecutively selected and studied for one-year clinical outcome. At 12 months after surgery, both groups showed a significant improvement in the visual analogue scale score and Oswestry disability index score for both lower extremity pain and low back pain. However, the range of motion at the upper adjacent segments (L3-4) increased significantly after surgery in the PLIF group, which was not manifested in the Coflex group during the follow-up. The authors assumed that interspinous implantation can be an alternative treatment for the spinal stenosis with segmental instability in selected conditions posing less stress on the superior adjacent level than PLIF.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Doo-Sik
authors: DS
authors: Kong
authors: Eun-Sang
authors: ES
authors: Kim
authors: Whan
authors: W
authors: Eoh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001416:Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007593:Joint Instability / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013130:Spinal Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome