Minimally Invasive 360 Degrees Decompression for Ligamentous, Bony and Discogenic Lumbar Canal Stenosis

Background: For decades, traditional open surgical techniques were used to treat lumbar disc herniation and lumbar canal stenosis (LCS). However, seeking for better outcomes for patients and avoiding extensive bony loss with its sequences had raised minimally invasive technique for treating these disorders as an alternative surgery. Methods: This is a retrospective study in which 54 patients of LCS were operated upon via unilateral minimally invasive technique to decompress the canal in a 360 degrees fashion through laminotomy, deroofing of opposite laminar side, sublaminar ligamintectomy, bilateral foraminotomies and discectomy. We used VAS scores and ODI to assess clinical outcomes with a period of one year follow-up. Results: Our results demonstrated that minimally invasive techniques for treating these disorders are effective procedures. Minimally invasive 360 degrees decompression for treating LCS had better outcomes regarding postoperative back pain, smaller incisions, less bony loss and early ambulation. Conclusion: Minimally invasive techniques for treating lumbar canal stenosis of different causes could be considered a better option instead of traditional full laminectomy with better outcomes as regards respecting the anatomical layers such as posterior spinal integrity and musculature, postoperative pain, accompanied with less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, and shorter recovery periods.

Gout: A Possible Cause of Lumbal Canal Stenosis. Cases Report in Sub-Saharan Area and Literature Review

Introduction: Gout is defined as an arthritic condition resulting from the deposition of monosodium urate crystals in and/or around joints, following long-standing hyperuricemia. This may cause gouty arthritis in joints and tophi in soft tissues. Spinal gout is rare and never mentioned in our context. It can appear as acute back pain, radiculopathy, spinal cord compression, spondylodiscitis or neoplasic/infectious epiduritis. Our aim was to share our surgical experience and proceed of a Literature review. Cases Presentation: Between January and August 2022, two patients male were surgically cared, aged of 42 and 60 years old. The gout was unknown in the youngest and poorly followed in the eldest. There was no past medical history of tuberculosis or immunodeficiency in both. The early diagnosis retained was unspecific lumbar spondylodiscitis due to clinical features: Patients complained both of lower back pain with initial fever. It was of a progressive left L5S1 deficit with erectile defect and dysuria in the first case and a progressive paraplegia without sphincter disorders in the second case. We proceeded with a lumbar laminectomy with a biopsy on both patients. The spinal tophus was ligamentous in one case and arthro-ligamentous in the other. There was a progressive motor recovery from postoperative Day-2 till postoperative Month-1. A probabilistic antituberculosis treatment was promptly initiated postoperatively based on radioclinic features while waiting for histologic proof. The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was negative and the histology was of a chronic calcified osteitis with dense fibrosis in both. The anti-gout treatment was implemented after 15 days with blood test evidence. A rheumatologic follow-up was also initiated and adjuvant physio-therapy. The results were very satisfactory from 4 - 6 months with independent walking. Discussion Conclusion: Spinal Gout may be suggested in 40-male-old faced with any acute rachialgia with neuro deficit with dubious neuro-imaging.

Correlation of lumbar lateral recess stenosis in magnetic resonance imaging and clinical symptoms

AIM To assess the correlation of lateral recess stenosis(LRS) of lumbar segments L4/5 and L5/S1 and the Oswestry Disability Index(ODI).METHODS Nine hundred and twenty-seven patients with history of low back pain were included in this uncontrolled study.On magnetic resonance images(MRI) the lateral recesses(LR) at lumbar levels L4/5 and L5/S1 were evaluated and each nerve root was classified into a 4-point grading scale(Grade 0-3) as normal,not deviated,deviated or compressed.Patient symptoms and disability were assessed using ODI.The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used for statistical analysis(P < 0.05).RESULTS Approximately half of the LR revealed stenosis(grade 1-3;52% at level L4/5 and 42% at level L5/S1) with 2.2% and 1.9% respectively reveal a nerve root compression.The ODI score ranged from 0%-91.11% with an arithmetic mean of 34.06% ± 16.89%.We observed a very weak statistically significant positive correlation between ODI and LRS at lumbar levels L4/5 and L5/S1,each bilaterally(L4/5 left:rho < 0.105,P < 0.01;L4/5 right:rho < 0.111,P < 0.01;L5/S1 left:rho 0.128,P < 0.01;L5/S1 right:rho < 0.157,P < 0.001).CONCLUSION Although MRI is the standard imaging tool for diagnosing lumbar spinal stenosis,this study showed only a weak correlation of LRS on MRI and clinical findings.This can be attributed to a number of reasons outlined in this study,underlining that imaging findings alone are not sufficient to establish a reliable diagnosis for patients with LRS.

Diagnosis Experience of Patients with Cervical, Thoracic and Lumbar Multi-Segment Spinal Stenosis: A Case Report and Literature Review

Background: The incidence of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal canal stenosis is low. It is difficult to identify the main focus and responsible segment, and it is also difficult to select the sequence of staging surgery. We report a patient with triple stenosis. Case Presentation: In this paper, we introduced a 61-year-old female patient with cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal canal stenosis who had previously undergone “lumbar discectomy” in the outer hospital. The postoperative effect was not good and the symptoms were poor. The diagnosis was “cervical spinal stenosis and lumbar postoperative surgery”. The staged spinal canal decompression operation and Duhuo Jisheng Decoction (DHJSD) treatment were conducted in our hospital. After three months of follow-up, the functional and imaging results were satisfactory. Conclusions: The main focus and responsible spinal segment should be determined by the comprehensive analysis of medical history, signs, and images. Surgery combined with Chinese herbal medicine DHJSD therapy may be an effective treatment for this kind of disease.

Mechanical properties of nerve roots and rami radiculares isolated from fresh pig spinal cords

No reports have described experiments designed to determine the strength characteristics of spinal nerve roots and rami radiculares for the purpose of explaining the complexity of symptoms of medullary cone lesions and cauda equina syndrome. In this study, to explain the pathogenesis of cauda equina syndrome, monoaxial tensile tests were performed to determine the strength characteristics of spinal nerve roots and rami radiculares, and analysis was conducted to evaluate the stress-strain relationship and strength characteristics. Using the same tensile test device, the nerve root and ramus radiculares isolated from the spinal cords of pigs were subjected to the tensile test and stress relaxation test at load strain rates of 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 s-1 under identical settings. The tensile strength of the nerve root was not rate dependent, while the ramus radiculares tensile strength tended to decrease as the strain rate increased. These findings provide important insights into cauda equina symptoms, radiculopathy, and clinical symptoms of the medullary cone.