Lumbar spondylosis is treated in Turkey through spinal stabilization. This surgery relieves lower back pain and has very satisfactory results.
Lumbar Spondylolisthesis (Introduction)
The pain of sliding vertebrae is one of the most disturbing pains in a person’s life, as it dramatically limits his movement and prevents him from doing many daily tasks; sometimes, the patient becomes unable even to walk.
Lumbar spondylolisthesis is generally treated using several methods, some of which are surgical and others. Choosing the appropriate treatment depends on the patient's spondylolisthesis degree and his symptoms' severity.
In Turkey, a process of decompression of the nerves is performed to relieve the symptoms of slipped lumbar vertebrae, and a method of fixation of the spine is served with it to ensure that these symptoms do not return. Contact us to inquire about the details of treatment in Turkey.
What is lumbar spondylolisthesis?
The spine consists of bony parts lined up on top of each other and held in place well by ligaments and muscles. These parts are called vertebrae. A cartilaginous disc is placed between every two vertebrae to reduce friction.
The vertebrae lined up on each other form a tunnel in which the spinal cord resides and from which the nerve roots responsible for sensation and movement in the trunk and the upper and lower extremities exit.
Spondylolisthesis occurs due to a defect in the alignment of these vertebrae on top of each other, so one of them shifts (slips) forward, pressing on the spinal cord that passes through the vertebral canal.
This causes sensory and motor symptoms according to the affected nerve root due to inflammation in the area of the affected nerve, which may be in the neck, for example.
The most common place slipped vertebrae occur in the lower back, called the lumbar region (more common than appearing in the neck). And the fifth lumbar vertebra is usually the most sliding over the sacral vertebrae.
The nerves that exit at this spine level are responsible for the lower extremities. So lower back pain and thighs from the back are the most common.
Causes of lumbar spondylolisthesis
Spondylolisthesis can occur in anyone, but the following people are at increased risk of slipping:
- Young athletes: especially those who do stretching exercises excessively or do types of sports that require tremendous pressure on the spine, such as gymnastics.
- Such sports lead to repeated minor bruises on the lumbar vertebrae, eventually leading to cracks and fractures, which lead to the vertebrae slipping out of their position.
- Heredity: It was found that there is a difference between people in terms of the thickness of the bones forming the vertebrae. Some people have thinner vertebrae and are more likely to fracture, disintegrate, or slip, significantly if they are associated with weight gain.
- Advances in age: Spondylolisthesis occurs with advancing age due to bone erosion and lack of hardness and fragility, which exposes it to fractures and dislocations, especially in the spine, so symptoms of slipped vertebrae appear.
Lumbar spondylolisthesis symptoms
A person may have lumbar spondylolisthesis without realizing it because it is sometimes asymptomatic. Symptoms of lumbar spondylolisthesis in symptomatic people include the following symptoms:
- Acute pain in the lower back that gets worse with walking and standing; is relieved by resting and bending forward a little.
- Pain spreads to the buttocks, pelvis, coccyx, and thighs.
- Acute stiffness extends to the muscles of the glutes and thigh from the back.
- Numbness and weakness in the lower extremities result from pressure on the lumbar nerve roots.
Note: Spine disease must be distinguished from herniated disc or herniation of the pulp nucleus (the disk), since the first, as mentioned earlier, is a defect in the alignment of the vertebrae on top of each other.
The seconds the slipping of the cartilage between the vertebrae and its exit from its place puts pressure on the spinal cord. It may cause symptoms similar to the signs of spinal sliding, but it tends because the cause of its symptoms is on one side, causing the emergence of a disease called sciatica.
Diagnosis of spondylolisthesis
Spondylolisthesis is diagnosed with the symptoms the patient complains about, and with a clinical examination, where we can determine if the nerve is compressed somewhere on its path.
Then, if we suspect spinal slip, we resort to radiological methods, such as an X-ray of the spine and axial tomography or magnetic resonance imaging (it shows us whether the slip is of vertebral or cartilaginous origin).
Degrees of lumbar spondylolisthesis
Lumbar spondylolisthesis is divided according to the severity of the vertebrae's slippage and the degree of compression of the adjacent nerve structures. Accordingly, it determines the type of treatment that the patient needs.
Lumbar spondylolisthesis treatment
Lumbar spondylosis is treated according to the patient’s symptoms and the severity of his condition. The treatment is divided into a non-surgical treatment that we start with and a treatment in which we resort to surgery in advanced cases.
Non-surgical treatment of spondylolisthesis
It is given to patients who have mild to moderate symptoms of lower back pain, and they may benefit from these treatments, and their pain will be significantly reduced, and here there is no need for us to resort to surgery.
Non-surgical treatment includes:
- Rest is considered one of the essential relievers of lower back pain because increased movement and exercises with a slipped spine will worsen the condition and cause a problem.
- Pain relievers: Among the most popular are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen.
- Physiotherapy: includes specific exercises aimed at strengthening muscles and helping to repair slipped vertebrae. This is done under the supervision of a doctor specializing in physical therapy.
- Turkey has the most skilled physiotherapists Contact us we Bimaristan Medical Center for further information.
- Wearing corsets: The corset restricts the movement of the back and stabilizes it so that this stability allows the cracked or broken bones to heal and the patient's symptoms to improve.
- Local steroid injection: The treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis is, in some cases, by injecting local cortisone into the place of pain in the back by a specialist, which leads to relieving lower back pain.
Surgical treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis in Turkey
The surgical solution is used to treat lumbar spondylolisthesis in the advanced stages of the disease. Surgery in Turkey has satisfactory results for patients regarding the disappearance of symptoms and relief from lower back pain.
Conditions for resorting to surgery in the treatment of slipped lumbar spine
In order to consider surgery to treat a herniated lumbar spine, one of the following must be met:
- Severe lower back pain caused by spondylolisthesis that does not improve with non-surgical treatments.
- Severe degree of spondylolisthesis.
- The development of the disease and its worsening is a necessity to resort to surgery.
Details of the treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis in Turkey
There are two types of operations for treating lumbar spondylolisthesis to relieve lower back pain; the two operations are decompression surgery and spinal fusion. One or both processes may apply at the same time.
Decompression surgery in Turkey
This operation depends on removing part of the vertebrae that press on the spinal cord or the nerve root, leading to the disappearance of symptoms and improving the patient's condition and lower back pain significantly.
This operation may be relapse and incomplete, so it must be combined with the spinal fusion operation to achieve excellent patient satisfaction, as they are performed together in the same surgery.
Spinal fusion in Turkey
This operation is based on merging the sliding vertebra with the lower vertebra after it has been returned to its place so that it does not move and remains fixed. This operation provides excellent comfort for patients after it is performed, but it causes little limitation of back movement due to the fixation that was performed.
Fixation is done by placing metal pieces that connect the vertebrae and placing a bone graft between the two vertebrae so that they heal on the same principle as fracture healing, and thus fixation takes place.
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