Lumbar Stenosis Case Study

55 year old male presents with back, buttock, and leg pain whenever he walks. He has relief of his pain when he leans over the grocery cart or whenever he sits. MRI shows spinal stenosis where the space that carries the nerves is crowded. The left image shows a side view and the right view shows the cross section. The center picture shows a cross section of a normal spine. The normal spine has more “white” area for the nerves to live in comparison to the spinal stenosis one.

Patient underwent a laminectomy where the space is freed again. People worry about removing too much bone but only the area of compression is removed preserving the stability of the spine. The entire lamina is not removed. The area of work is between the red lines