E-Posters-10248

10248_Dutta

Pdf Summary

Bladder and bowel dysfunction are known complications of lumbar spinal stenosis, a condition that causes back pain and lower extremity weakness/numbness. Previous studies have reported that decompression with laminectomy can improve bladder function, but there is limited research on the overall prevalence of these symptoms and their improvement following spinal decompression. <br /><br />In this observational study, patients presenting to an orthopedic surgery clinic for back pain management were evaluated for bladder and bowel dysfunction, as well as pain, using validated surveys. A total of 212 patients were recruited, 50.5% of whom had spinal stenosis. Despite the widely accepted notion that spinal compression can result in bladder and bowel dysfunction, the results showed that spinal decompression may not reliably alleviate these symptoms. <br /><br />The study found that patients with spinal stenosis had moderate symptoms of urinary incontinence and mild symptoms of fecal incontinence at baseline. There were no significant differences in bladder and bowel function scores following either operative or non-operative interventions. However, there was a significant decrease in pain scores after both interventions. <br /><br />Among the patients who underwent spinal decompression (18 patients), there was no significant difference in bladder and bowel function scores pre- and post-operatively. In the non-operative cohort (44 patients), there were no differences in bladder and bowel function scores between baseline and 6-month follow-up. <br /><br />Overall, the findings suggest that while spinal decompression may improve pain symptoms, it may not reliably alleviate bladder and bowel dysfunction in patients with spinal stenosis. Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between spinal compression and these symptoms and to develop more effective treatment strategies.

Keywords

bladder dysfunction

bowel dysfunction

lumbar spinal stenosis

back pain

lower extremity weakness

numbness

decompression with laminectomy

bladder function improvement

prevalence of symptoms

spinal decompression