Study: Surgery Best for Spinal Stenosis

A recent study shows that surgery for a common back condition — spinal stenosis — significantly reduces back pain and improves functionality more than treatment with drugs and physical therapy.

The study, called SPORT (Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial), compared surgical and nonsurgical treatments for several common back ailments including spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is a condition that affects more than 400,000 in the United States. It is a narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower back that causes pinching and irritating of the nerves, resulting in back pain, leg pain, weakness, and loss of balance.

Spine surgeons at Southern California Orthopedic Institute always consider conservative, nonsurgical treatment first. If improvement is not seen, surgeons will give the patient an option to undergo surgery; the study confirms that surgery can have more favorable results.

Two surgical options to treat spinal stenosis are a laminectomy and X Stop. Laminectomy surgery entails removing a small portion of the bone or disc material near the nerve root to give the nerve root more space. The X Stop procedure involves inserting a device into the spinal column to give more space around the nerve root and bring relief.

Read more about the SPORT study.

For more information on treating spinal stenosis, call Southern California Orthopedic Institute at (877) 952-8484.

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