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Has anyone suffered from lumbar spinal stenosis? Did you have surgery?
Spine Health | Last Active: Jul 11, 2025 | Replies (186)Comment receiving replies
@northstar25
I can empathize. I have the same as you and had surgery to decompress and fuse L3-L5. My surgery helped me reduce back pain and weakness/numbness down to my feet. My L4 was also slipping over L5 and this level was totally blocked (causing neurogenic claudication).
For my surgery, they went through the back only. They had to remove discs, cut away arthritic bone that was compressing my spinal cord and nerve roots, put in disc spacers and hardware. It was a really painful surgery and 3-6+ month recovery (takes a full year to see the full effect of surgery and reduction of symptoms). I am in my mid 50s and had 2 cervical spine ACDF surgeries and 1 lumbar open surgery.
Did they say why they would go through your stomach and back and why they couldn’t just go through your back? You should get a couple more opinions from reputable and highly reviewed/rated surgeons before picking one. My 4th orthopedic spine specialist surgeon is who I chose to do all 3 surgeries.
How long have you been suffering? Did you try physical therapy and steroid injections?
Replies to "@northstar25 I can empathize. I have the same as you and had surgery to decompress and..."
Hope this is helpful. I am retired operating room scrub nurse. By going through the abdomen and securing the spine is what we called a “360.” My guess is that your spine needs much stabilization. Here is what I found on the Internet for you to help you understand: A 360 lumbar fusion, also known as an anterior/posterior lumbar fusion or circumferential fusion, is a surgical procedure that stabilizes the spine by fusing vertebrae from both the front (anterior) and back (posterior) of the spine. This approach is often used for patients with significant spinal issues like degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, or spinal deformities.
Hope this helps.
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Thank you for your comment! I am 72 in a couple weeks. I am going to ask why they have to go through my stomach first---I haven't been able to see on youtube or other places where they actually do this. Seems risky to me. I did 2 cortisone injections which worked for a few weeks--one at end of March and the other June 18. Also did Physical Therapy where the guy gave me some exercises to do, which I try to do as much as my back pain will allow. Also doing Advil in am & pm, and wear an 'ice belt' when I go to bed. I have arthritis which doesn't help, and the surgery won't help that. This condition has been going on for some time, but getting worse since late last year. Thought it was just sciatica, but then had the MRI and that's when they discovered the spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and a vertebrae that was slipped forward. Yes, I am trying to get 2nd opinion, primarily from Mayo in Rochester as that's where I was born and still have a brother there :). Evidently there is a 'triage system' they use there to review one's medical records, and then schedule appointments. Would like to get an appt asap. The clinic where I may have to get the surgery done is close by my home but smaller, and I just don't know----this is a serious surgery and I can't afford to have any mistakes!!