Unilateral laminectomy for bilateral decompression of lumbar spinal stenosis: A prospective comparative study with conservatively treated patients

The authors performed single- or multiple-level unilateral laminectomy to treat lumbar spinal stenosis in patients with mild to moderate leg pain and compared the results with those from patients treated with conservative therapy in a prospective study. This decompression technique produced a 68% rate of improvement compared with a 33% rate for conservatively treated patients. The surgical group exhibited significant and sustained improvement, whereas the functional and clinical status; of the conservatively managed group had returned to baseline during the same period. The preoperative dural sac cross-sectional area at the level of the most stenosis was 70.76 +/- 28.2 mm(2) for the surgical group, whereas on postoperative scans it was 108.12 +/- 31.5 mm(2), with an average correction rate of 65%. Neither new degenerative spondylolisthesis nor any evidence of instability was detected in any patient during the study.