Left Lumbar Scoliosis with Spinal Stenosis

Description

This patient is an adult female with a progressive left lumbar curve and spinal stenosis at 2 segments. The spinal stenosis caused spinal claudication symptoms and leg pain with ambulation (walking).
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Treatment

Dr. Bridwell treated the patient with posterior instrumented fusion to the sacrum and pelvis, utilizing local bone and biologic proteins and a 2-level decompression.

Many surgeons support the notion of performing a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) or anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) at L5-S1. Dr. Bridwell found, in most cases, that those procedures are unnecessary. If he performed a meticulous fusion and protected the sacral screws with iliac screws and used biologic proteins, TLIFs and ALIFs are usually not necessary if a primary instrumented fusion is being performed.

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Result

Note on the Pre-op to Post-op Comparison questionnaire scores that for the pain, function, and mental health questions, the maximum score is 25; for the self-image question, the maximum score is 30; and for the satisfaction question, the maximum score is 10. For the SRS Scores Converted to 100-point Scale, 100 means no pathology. For the Oswestry Scores, 100 means maximum pathology; 1 means no pathology.

If you have any questions or would like someone to walk you through this case, please call Dr. Bridwell's office at (314) 747-2526 or (314) 747-2560 and ask to speak to either Bernie or Jackie and they or one of his staff will be happy to explain the case in greater detail to you. To learn more about how to understand SRS and Oswestry Scores, please click here.