Introduction
Spinal canal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal. The spinal canal is formed by the individual vertebral bodies and surrounds the spinal cord. If constrictions occur in this canal, the spinal cord and the nerve fibers running in it suffer.
The consequences range from pain to paralysis and paresthesia. In the course of life, wear-related (degenerative) changes occur in the spinal column. Depending on how severely these wear processes change the spinal column, more or less pronounced clinical pictures such as spinal canal stenosis can occur.
But how does such a degeneration of the spinal column manifest itself? In the course of wear and tear, the spinal column undergoes remodelling processes. Among other things, this results in the formation of new, superfluous bone tissue (“osteophytary cultivation”), arthrosis of the intervertebral joints and damage to the intervertebral discs (intervertebral discs).
Since these “attachments” take up space that is not naturally available, constrictions (stenoses) of the said spinal canal and the intervertebral holes (Foramina intervertrebralia) may occur. The narrowing leads to compression of the spinal cord in the spinal canal and to entrapment of the nerve roots of the spinal nerves that emerge from the intervertebral holes. The lumbar spine is most frequently affected by such spinal canal stenosis.
The simple reason for this is that the lumbar spine has to absorb particularly heavy weight and particularly high forces due to the upright gait and gravity. However, other parts of the spine, such as the cervical spine, can also be affected. The typical main complaints of spinal stenosis in the lumbar spine are load-dependent low back pain.
These usually radiate into the legs and make walking difficult for the person affected. Those affected can usually only walk a certain distance without restriction and without pain (claudication spinalis). In diagnostics, imaging procedures such as computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are in the foreground.
The latter in particular shows the narrowing of the spinal canal very well. There are both conservative and surgical procedures for the treatment of spinal canal stenosis of the lumbar spine. The therapy is individually adapted to the patient and his or her complaints.
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