Frequency of Instrumentation in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and Lumbar Disc Herniation

Background & Aim: Lumbosacral pain is extremely common as age increases. Spinal instrumentation is sometimes recommended for&nbsp;lumbar canal stenosis and disk herniation surgery. This study aimed at studying the frequency of instrumentation in patients referring to our&nbsp;center. Methods & Materials/Patients: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 1200 patients with low back and/or radicular pain who&nbsp;had referred to the Shahid Beheshti and Ayatallah Roohani hospitals from 2013 to 2014 in Babol city. Data were analyzed by t-test and chisquare&nbsp;using SPSS (Version 20). Results: In this study, 150 of 1200 patients needed surgery for lumbar canal stenosis and/or disk herniation (mean age of 42.21 &plusmn; 11.41 years&nbsp;old, ranging from 26-69). Of all patients, 76 were men (50.7%) and 74 women (49.3%). L4-L5 was the most involved level. There was a&nbsp;significant relationship between pathology and gender (p<001). At some levels, either men or women were involved. Moreover, 55 patients&nbsp;(36.7%) underwent surgery with instrumentation and 95 patients (63.3%) without instrumentation. Complete improvement was reported in&nbsp;102 patients (68%). No significant relationship was observed between the degree of improvement and surgery technique and gender (p=0.78,&nbsp;p=0.72). Conclusion: Most patients (63.3%) underwent surgery without instrumentation and about one third needed fixation during surgery.