Spinal stenosis is an abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal, which compresses the spinal cord and lateral nerves, resulting in cramping, pain or numbness in a patient's legs, back, neck, shoulders or arms. While it may affect young patients due to developmental abnormalities, spinal stenosis is a common degenerative condition that afflicts aged people.
Most advanced cases of spinal stenosis require surgical treatment, while mild cases can be treated by non-surgical means, such as physical therapy or pain management. To date, the most common surgical treatment is spinal fusion, which is performed by placing a bone graft, bone substitute, and/or a non-natural instrument such as a metal rod between the vertebrae being fused. Spinal fusion often limits the activity of the vertebrae being fused, and it may cause damage to the vertebrae or nearby tissues. Because of these risks, non-fusion techniques that aim to stabilize the affected vertebrae but still maintain their function have been developed. These techniques include the implantation of artificial discs, nucleus replacement, annular repair, and dynamic stabilization systems. However, most of these techniques are highly invasive, requiring the removal of bone, muscle or ligament, or are difficult to perform. Thus, there is still a need for simple, minimally invasive non-fusion techniques for treating spinal stenosis and similar conditions.