Spinal stenosis is the cause of low back pain for many older adults. Sometimes there’s leg pain with the back pain. Patients report numbness and tingling down the leg, too. Pressure on the spinal cord or spinal nerves in the low back is the cause of these symptoms. Bending forward often reduces the pain. It’s made worse by standing up straight or extending the spine.
One way to treat this problem is with the new X Stop implant device. It fits in the interspinous space. The spinous process is the bony knob you can feel along the back of the spine. The interspinous space is the space between the spinous processes of two vertebrae.
The X Stop is designed to hold the stenotic level in a flexed position. This is the position that takes pressure off the nerve and gives the most pain relief. It also helps to take the load off the spinal joints at the same level.
In this study of 40 patients, the X Stop reduced pain and increased function. Patients reported being satisfied with the short-term results. Patients got the most benefit in the first three months. Almost three-fourths of the patients were still satisfied 12 months after surgery.
The authors conclude the X Stop device is a safe and effective way to treat lumbar spinal stenosis. It is less invasive than open surgery or decompression and fusion, the more standard treatment used.
The symptoms did come back for one-third of the patients. They had further treatment with epidural injections. In two patients, the device slipped out of place and had to be removed. Spinal fusion was done in those cases.