Symptoms
The symptoms of spinal stenosis can be divided into two main categories: neurogenic intermittent claudication, and radiculopathy with or without radicular pain. Neurogenic intermittent claudication is a clinical diagnosis. Symptoms include buttock pain, pain radiating into the thighs or legs numbness, tingling, or cramping of the legs, difficulty standing or walking and low back pain. Unlike vascular claudication, the symptoms of neurogenic claudication improve with leaning forward, crouching, or sitting down. Bowel and bladder problems occur rarely.
Radiculopathy is defined as a neurological condition due to nerve root injury sufficient enough to cause objective signs such as weakness, sensation loss and loss of reflexes. Radiculopathy may or may not cause typical radicular pain. Radicular pain is often described as a sharp, burning pain that radiates in a dermatomal distribution. Radiculopathy and radicular pain can occur unilaterally or bilaterally.
CLASSIFICATION
Lumbar spinal stenosis can be inherited and acquired. Inherited causes are relatively rare compared to those that are acquired, presenting usually between the ages of 30 and 40. They include congenital lumbar stenosis, scoliosis, and achondroplasia, a condition that results in short, thick pedicles and a smaller spinal canal. The acquired conditions include degenerative, spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, posttraumatic and iatrogenic causes.They usually present one to two decades later in life, compared to inherited spinal stenosis.
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