Canal stenosis, called lumbar spinal stenosis in medicine, is the occurrence of compression on the spinal cord due to calcification of the bone and connective tissue surrounding the spinal cord. It is usually seen above the age of 55. It is more in women than men. If the congenital spinal cord passage is narrow, it is also seen at earlier ages. There is a connective tissue called ligamentum flavum that covers the spinal cord and the nerves that go to the right and left legs from it at every level and protects them from external influences. This tissue ossifies with aging or with the increase of calcifications due to osteoporosis and compresses the spinal cord and creates pressure.
As a result of this pressure, symptoms such as pain, burning, tingling and difficulty in walking appear in both legs. Even if the person tries to walk a short distance, he often feels the need to stop and rest. Bend your body forward while sitting, but this is how you relax. If the disease progresses, numbness and burning in the legs wakes the patient at night, when he wakes up, he feels like a log and does not know where to put his legs. Another symptom that indicates the progression of the disease is frequent cramps in the legs. In the most advanced stage, sexual power is lost and the patient starts to leak urine. Physical therapy, swimming and exercises are recommended to the patient only during the period of numbness or burning.
If this stenosis is severe, that is, if the patient needs to rest frequently while walking or wakes up at night due to drowsiness, surgery is absolutely necessary. Previously, in canal stenosis surgeries, the spinal canal was opened bilaterally or the posterior bone of the spine was removed as it was. In these patients, it was observed that the static of the spine deteriorated over time and the spine was fixed with screws and platinum, and canal stenosis surgeries are still performed in this way in most of Turkey. However, since these types of surgeries are major surgeries, it is quite late for the patient to recover and return to normal life.
For nearly two years in the USA, it is much easier for the patient to recover and return to normal life with a new method applied by me and a few distinguished neurosurgeons in our country. In this method, the protruding bones and ossified connective tissues around the spinal cord are cleaned with a tool called TUR, which rotates very quickly and eats bone tissues, by entering through a small incision in the part of the patient's spine that is more painful. By giving appropriate positions to the patient, pressures not only in the entered area but also in the opposite area can be removed. This operation can only be performed under very fast TUR instruments and modern microscopes. As in herniated disc surgery, the patient can stand up a few hours after this surgery, go home without overnight in the hospital, and return to his normal life within a few days. In our narrow canal surgeries, the patient does not have the risk of being disabled or paralyzed. As long as the patient comes without paralysis.
In these surgeries, the pressure on the spinal cord and nerves is removed. We can't do anything about the damage inside the spinal cord and nerves. However, after the pressure is removed, the body starts to repair slowly. For this reason, it is of great benefit for patients with canal stenosis to apply before the destruction begins.