aetiology of the lumbar spinal stenosis in black africans: intraoperative observations

background & aim: lumbar spinal stenosis (lss) is a common condition. this congenital or acquired stenosis has multiple etiologies. the goal of this study was to describe intraoperative pathoanatomic findings of lumbar spinal stenosis observed within a black african population. methods & materials/patients: it was a retrospective and descriptive study performed at departmental teaching hospital of borgou in republic of benin (west africa) from january 2008 to june 2014. all black african patients who underwent surgery for lss were included. intra operative aetiologies were recorded. patients with extruded lumbar discopathy were excluded. results: during study period, 199 patients were selected. it was 109 men (54.8%) and 90 women (42.2%). patients mean age was 53.2 years ± 10.96, mean weight 77.11kg ± 14.37 and mean height 171 cm ± 8.64cm. the lss was acquired in 157 patients (78.9%), congenital in 29 (14.6%) and in 13 cases (6.5%) it was mixed origin. a hypertrophyof ligamentum flavum was observed in 101 patients (50.8%), zygapophyseal joint hypertrophy in 15 cases (7.2%) and in 74 cases (37.2%) the two factors were associated. a disc bulge were observed in 9 cases (4.5%).  conclusion: the ligamentum flavum hypertrophy is the main cause of lss in black africans. studies to determine the mechanism of hypertrophy will be useful in order to initiate preventive treatment.