Clinical experiences of transforaminal balloon decompression for patients with spinal stenosis.

Lumbar spinal stenosis is a commonly treated with epidural injections of local anesthetics and corticosteroids, however, these therapies may relieve leg pain for weeks to months but do not influence functional status. Furthermore, the majority of patients report no substantial symptom change over the repeated treatment. Utilizing balloon catheters, we successfully treated with three patients who complained persistent symptoms despite repeated conventional steroid injections. Our results suggest that transforaminal decompression using a balloon catheter may have potential in the nonsurgical treatment of spinal stenosis by modifying the underlying pathophysiology.