Purpose: The quality of the functional result for surgical treatment of lumbar stenosis has been the subject of much debate. The objectives of this retrospective review were to assess functional outcome ten years after surgical treatment of lumbar stenosis and determine the rate of revision in order to identify factors influencing outcome at last follow-up.

Material and methods: One hundred forty-one patients underwent surgery for lumbar stenosis between January 1990 and December 1992. Mean follow-up was ten years. Functional outcome at last follow-up was assessed with a specific questionnaire with items for lumbar and radicular pain and signs of radicular ischemia and with a self-administered satisfaction questionnaire as well as two visual analogue scales (VAS) for lumbar and radicular pain. Other data noted were: epidemiological and morphological features, comorbidity, presence or not of objective signs of neurological involvement, the SF-36, and a self-assessed anxiety-depression score (GHQ28). Two types of analysis were performed. A descriptive analysis to determine the severity of functional signs observed at last follow-up, patient satisfaction and incidence and reasons for surgical revision. Multivariate analysis was designed to search for factors affecting the self-administered senosis score.

Results: During the study period, fifteen patients underwent a revision procedure involving the lumbar spine. At last follow-up the overall satisfaction index was 71%. The best results were obtained for radiculalgia and intermittent neurogenic claudication. Residual lumbalgia was the main complaint at last follow-up. The patient’s psychological profile was the predominant factor affecting functional outcome. Other factors influencing functional outcome were revision surgery, persistent objective neurological disorders, and comorbidity.

Conclusion: Surgical treatment of lumbar stenosis allows satisfactory long-term results in the majority of patients. At ten years, the risk of revision surgery was 10%. A review of the literature shows that these results are better than those obtained with medical treatment and that these surgical interventions enable quality-of-life similar to that observed in an age-matched population.