Lateral Recess Stenosis
In 1981, a International Study carried out to determine the anatomical reasons behind failed back surgery found that the the most common reason for a bad surgical result was failure of the surgeon to either identify or adequately treat the entity know as "lateral spinal stenosis" (LSS).
The primary researchers behind the 1981 study continued to monitor the failed back surgery situation and, even at the year 2000, the start of a new millennium, they concluded that LSS continued to be the primary reason for surgical failure. Sadly, this situation continues to be true. The reasons behind this astonishing observation are difficult to comprehend because such a high failure rate would not be tolerated in any other surgical specialty.
Because of the importance of this subject Burton Report has been focused on attempting to better inform physicians and patients and make them more aware of the need for more specific diagnosis and more appropriate surgical therapy based on this information. Surgeons and their patients need to reflect on the observation that "there is no such thing as a non-specific patient, there are, however, non-specific surgeons." This observation is eminently applicable to spine surgery and spine surgeons.
Lateral spinal stenosis was first described in 1940 by neurosurgeon Henk Verbiest.
