Differences in preoperative clinical symptoms and radiological findings of degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis and lumbar canal stenosis

Objective: Some reports have referred to differences in preoperative symptoms and radiological findings between lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS) and lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LCS), while others have reported no differences. We investigated the differences of preoperative clinical and radiological findings between the DS group and LCS group.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 32 patients in the DS group and 24 patients in the LCS group with regard to preoperative clinical symptoms, dural sac area and spinopelvic parameters.Results: The mean dural sac area of the DS group (40.4 & PLUSMN; 18.7 mm2) was significantly narrower than that of the LCS group (56.0 & PLUSMN; 24.0 mm2) (p = 0.008). As for the spinopelvic parameters, the PI was significantly greater in the DS group with 56.6 & PLUSMN; 11.8 degrees compared to 47.4 & PLUSMN; 11.4 degrees in the LCS group (p = 0.005), and the LL was also significantly different with 45.8 & PLUSMN; 13.8 degrees and 37.1 & PLUSMN; 14.0 degrees respectively (p = 0.023). Japanese Orthopaedic Association Back Pain Questionnaire (JOABPEQ) scores for walking ability was significantly impaired in the DS group compared to the LCS group (p = 0.025).Conclusion. The DS group had a significantly smaller dural sac area than the LCS group, while PI and LL were significantly larger and walking ability was significantly impaired.