Surgical Management of Scoliosis and/or Spondylolisthesis Associated with Spinal Stenosis

Spinal stenosis occurs most commonly in the elderly population and patients typically present with symptoms of neurogenic claudication. Complex stenosis is that which occurs in conjunction with spondylolisthesis or scoliosis. In addition to typical complaints, patients commonly develop radicular pain and back pain. In most cases initial treatment is nonoperative. Patients who fail to respond symptomatically are treated surgically. Surgical intervention in cases of complex stenosis necessitates decompression of the neural elements, and recent literature supports the addition of instrumented fusion to the decompression. More minimally invasive strategies are beginning to surface to treat complex stenosis as well.