Mark Nelson, M.D. - (858) 571-0606 - Serving San Diego and Temecula / Murietta

Surgical or Nonoperative Treatment for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis?  A Randomized Controlled Trial Malmivaara et. al. Spine Volume 32, Number 1, pp1-8

In this study from Finland, 94 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis were randomly assigned to either surgical treatment or nonoperative treatment.  All patients had symptoms of back pain radiating into the legs with fatigue and numbness worsened by walking.  This group of patient’s symptoms were felt to fall in a middle range where either surgical or nonsurgical treatment could reasonably be considered.