Treatment of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis in Elderly Patients: Systematic Review

Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a common disease among the elderly, but it can also affect people of younger ages. Back pain, lower limb pain, and claudication pain are common symptoms. Radiological examinations such as simple X-rays, CT, or MRI Lumbosacral spine are used to confirm the diagnosis. The aim of the present study is to organize and summarize the vast and diverse literature on thetreatment of LSS in elderly patients (adults aged ≥65 years). We identified systematic reviews published from January 2015 to January 2021 and screened the reference lists from these reviews for additional relevant articles. This study found that surgery helped older patients with moderate to severe lumbar stenosis who did not have spondyloliathesis. Based on largely low-quality, retrospective evidence, we recommend that elderly patients should not be excluded from surgical intervention for symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis.