Interspinous implant in lumbar spinal stenosis: a prospective cohort

Study design Prospective study on clinical outcome of interspinous process distraction with X-STOP in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Purpose To determine the safety and efficacy of X-STOP interspinous distractor. Method A total of 45 patients (24 males, 21 females) with lumbar spinal stenosis were treated with X-STOP system. They had preoperative and postoperative (3, 6 and 12 months) assessments using the Back and Sciatica Questionnaire, the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the SF12 Questionnaire. Patient satisfaction was assessed at each visit. Results The average VAS of back and leg pain was 6.7 and 6.8 preoperatively and improved to 2.7 and 2.8 postoperatively. A total of 68% had improvement in their walking distance following the operation. The average preoperative ODI of 42% improved to 16.38% postoperatively (P < 0.0001). A total of 70% of patients had improvement in physical score and 80% in mental score. A total of 82% were very satisfied with the outcome of the operation. Conclusion X-STOP implant is clinically effective with fewer complications and it is a simple procedure.