Spinal Stenosis: Background, Anatomy, Pathophysiology
Acute and chronic neck and lower back pain represents a major health care problem in the United States. An estimated 75% of all people will…
emedicine.medscape.com
There is little value in adding fusion to decompression surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis, show two…
www.rheumatologynetwork.com
2 studies show little or no benefit in adding spinal fusion to decompression alone in treating patients with spinal stenosis involving less than 3 levels of vertebrae, especially if there is no clear evidence of spinal instability or secondary pathology (eg trauma, tumour).
As such, spinal fusion merely adds to the cost, duration and complexity of surgery.