Lumbar spinal-lateral recess stenosis.

The syndrome of a lumbar spinal and lateral recess stenosis is characterized by pain and a variety of paresthetic symptoms occurring principally when the patient stands or walks. Sitting or lying down alleviate the symptoms promptly. The neurologic examination is characterized by a negative straight leg-raising test and a paucity of abnormal neurologic findings. The diagnosis is confirmed by a high-resolution CT scan. If conservative treatment fails, a myelogram is in order to establish a definitive diagnosis and assess the severity of neural compression prior to placing the indication for a surgical decompression of the stenotic spinal canal. The surgical procedure consists of a laminectomy and a partial facetectomy of the hypertrophied portion of the facet joint that compresses the adjacent lumbar nerve root from a dorsal direction. It is important to recognize all associated pathologic processes that must be dealt with accordingly at the same time in order to assure success of the operative procedure. The results of a surgical decompression for a lumbar spinal and lateral recess stenosis are excellent.