Analysis of surgeries for Degenerative lumbar stenosis in old patients? A clinical study

Objective: To analyze the effect of decompression alone and combined decompression, fusion and internal fixation procedure for degenerative lumbar stenosis in elderly patients.

Methods: We reviewed 168 lumbar stenosis patients treated using decompression alone or with combined procedures in the department of orthopaedics of Tianjin 4th Centre Hospital from October 2010 to January 2014. The clinical data including age, gender, procedure type, operation time, follow-up period, blood loss, preoperative and postoperative JOA and ODI scores were recorded. The patients were divided into decompression alone group and combined surgeries group according to the procedure type.

Results: The combined surgeries group presented with larger blood loss (p<0.05) and more operation time (p<0.05), compared with the group of decompression alone. The preoperative and postoperative JOA scores were significantly higher (p<0.05), and the ODI scores significantly lower in the decompression alone group (P<0.05), but at the final follow-up, there were no significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05). The complication rate was lower in the group of decompression alone, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Both the decompression alone and combined surgeries can result in a satisfactory effects in elderly patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis, but the combined surgeries presented with a relatively higher complication rate.