Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: Difference between revisions

No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 18: Line 18:
== Epidemiology /Etiology  ==
== Epidemiology /Etiology  ==


add text here <br>  
Some people are born with a small spinal canal. This is called "congenital stenosis”. However, spinal canal narrowing is most often due to age-related changes that take place over time. This condition is called "acquired spinal stenosis." Spinal stenosis is most common in people over 50 years of age. [14]<br>Acquired forms of LSS are further classified as degenerative, spondylolisthetic, iatrogenic (postsurgical), posttraumatic, or combined. [14]<br> <br>'''Lumbar spinal stenosis can be caused by''':<br>
 
*osteoarthritis
*Inflammatory spondyloarthritis
*bulging of the disc
*thickening of the vertebral ligament
*tumor
*infection
*various metabolic bone disorders that cause bone growth, such as [http://www.physio-pedia.com/Paget's_Disease Paget's disease]&nbsp; [1,12,14]<br><br>


== Characteristics/Clinical Presentation  ==
== Characteristics/Clinical Presentation  ==

Revision as of 20:20, 5 January 2014

Welcome to Vrije Universiteit Brussel's Evidence-based Practice project. This space was created by and for the students in the Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy program of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium. Please do not edit unless you are involved in this project, but please come back in the near future to check out new information!!

Search Strategy[edit | edit source]

Databases Searched: Pubmed, Web of Knowledge, PEDro
Keywords: Low back pain, Spinal Stenosis, Physical therapy, Treatment, LSS, Management

Definition/Description[edit | edit source]

Lumbar spinal stenosis is a condition where the spinal canal (central stenosis) or one or more of the lumbar vertebral foramina (foraminal/lateral stenosis) becomes narrowed. If the narrowing is substantial, it can cause compression of the spinal cord or spinal nerves. Symptoms include low back pain, buttock pain, leg pain and numbness. These symptoms are typically aggravated by walking and relieved with rest. [1,3,12] Not all patients with spinal narrowing develop symptoms, so the term "spinal stenosis" refers to the symptoms of pain and not to the narrowing itself. [5]

Clinically Relevant Anatomy[edit | edit source]

Five lumbar vertebrae (L1-L5) make up the “lower back”. As demonstrated in the picture to the right, this is where the spine starts curving toward the abdomen.
The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain.
This is the main pathway for information traveling from the brain to the peripheral nervous system. The length of the spinal cord is much shorter compared to the length of the bony spinal column. The spinal cord ends in the lower thoracic spine. The nerve roots from the lumbar and sacral levels continue from the bottom of the cord like a "horse's tail" (cauda equina) and then exit the spine.
There are 33 spinal cord nerve segments in a human spinal cord, and 5 lumbar segments that form 5 pairs of lumbar nerves. [7]

Epidemiology /Etiology[edit | edit source]

Some people are born with a small spinal canal. This is called "congenital stenosis”. However, spinal canal narrowing is most often due to age-related changes that take place over time. This condition is called "acquired spinal stenosis." Spinal stenosis is most common in people over 50 years of age. [14]
Acquired forms of LSS are further classified as degenerative, spondylolisthetic, iatrogenic (postsurgical), posttraumatic, or combined. [14]

Lumbar spinal stenosis can be caused by:

  • osteoarthritis
  • Inflammatory spondyloarthritis
  • bulging of the disc
  • thickening of the vertebral ligament
  • tumor
  • infection
  • various metabolic bone disorders that cause bone growth, such as Paget's disease  [1,12,14]

Characteristics/Clinical Presentation[edit | edit source]

add text here

Differential Diagnosis[edit | edit source]

add text here

Diagnostic Procedures[edit | edit source]

add text here related to medical diagnostic procedures

Outcome Measures[edit | edit source]

add links to outcome measures here (also see Outcome Measures Database)

Examination[edit | edit source]

add text here related to physical examination and assessment

Medical Management
[edit | edit source]

add text here

Physical Therapy Management
[edit | edit source]

add text here

Key Research[edit | edit source]

add links and reviews of high quality evidence here (case studies should be added on new pages using the case study template)

Resources
[edit | edit source]

add appropriate resources here

Clinical Bottom Line[edit | edit source]

add text here

Recent Related Research (from Pubmed)[edit | edit source]

see tutorial on Adding PubMed Feed

Extension:RSS -- Error: Not a valid URL: Feed goes here!!|charset=UTF-8|short|max=10

References[edit | edit source]

see adding references tutorial.