To determine the efficacy of unilateral approach for Bilateral Decompression in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

BACKGROUND: Lumbar spinal stenosis is a common condition in elderly patients and can be defined as any narrowing of the spinal canal, lateral recess or intervertebral foramen. OBJECTIVES: T he objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of unilateral approach for bilateral decompression in Lumbar spinal stenosis. MATERIAL & METHODS: It was a Descriptive case series study conducted in the admitted patients of Lumbar spinal stenosis in the Department of Neurosurgery, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi in one year. Total of 86 patients were enrolled in the study.Bilateral decompression through a unilateral approach was performed. All the patients were followed up till 24 hours post operatively for the determination of effectiveness in terms of improvement in at least one grade of pain on visual analogue scale from baseline. RESULTS: In this study, 86 patients with Lumbar spinal stenosis were observed. Male to female ratio was 1.61:1. The study included age ranged from 40 to 78years. Average age was 59.29 years + 11.41. 8 major complication occur in all patients, 3 patients had unintended dural rent, 3 patient had wound dehiscence, and 2 patient develop discitis, which was manage conservatively.Efficacy of unilateral approach for bilateral decompression in Lumbar spinal stenosis was found in 79(80.2%). CONCLUSION: Unilateral approach for bilateral decompression is the better option for the patients presenting with Lumbar spinal stenosis.