Spinal canal stenosis/ Targeted Conditions

What is spinal stenosis?

“Spinal stenosis” refers to a condition in which the path for nerves within the spine has narrowed. That path for nerves is called the “spinal canal.” Broadly speaking, the spine is made of three things, as in the illustration: [1] bone, [2] intervertebral discs, and [3] nerves.

Normal intervertebral disc

The condition in which the spinal canal in the lower back is narrowed is called "lumbar spinal stenosis." When lumbar spinal canal stenosis is caused by instability of the lumbar spine, physical movement often causes pain.

When you get spinal stenosis, numbness or pain appears in your low back and legs. For example, it is similar to how your legs become numb if you kneel and sit back on your heels for a long time and pressure is placed on the sciatic nerves on the backs of your thighs, and if the pressure continues without stopping, pain appears in your legs. Furthermore, because pressure on the nerves is not strong in symptoms’ early stages, even if you do not feel numbness or pain in most situations, pressure becomes strong when you exercise, and pain and numbness may appear with intensity. That type of phenomenon in which numbness and pain occur when you exercise is called “intermittent claudication.” It is also called “intermittent claudication” when your calf muscles hurt and you cannot continue walking.

What are the symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis?

Lumbar spinal canal stenosis can cause numbness and pain in the lower back and legs. Just like, keeping a kneeling position for a long time having the sciatic nerves on the back side of the thighs compressed makes feet become numb, and eventually start to hurt. In the early stages of the disease, when pressure on the nerves has not risen to the point to cause numbness and pain, certain exercises like walking may add to it and trigger the symptoms in the muscles of the calves or other parts of the body making it impossible to continue. The phenomenon of numbness and pain during exercise is called intermittent claudication.

What are the causes of spinal stenosis?

Difficulty walking, pain or numbness in the thighs, pain while walking and then needing to rest to walk again, pain in the lower back when stretching the back, pain when standing, pain when rising up and out of bed, are some of the walking impediments that are attributed to spinal stenosis, and difficulty to walk due to spinal stenosis, and the inability to walk without resting in the middle of a walk are some of the many symptoms that interfere with daily life that are characterized as originating in the nerves. There are several possible causes for these symptoms which put pressure on the nerves, which have only been identified in recent years.

The intervertebral disc has collapsed, the bone is deformed, and pressure has been placed on the nerve.

Surgical treatment for lumbar spinal canal stenosis

If there is no improvement at all with conservative treatment, or if the pain and numbness are so strong that the patient cannot walk or has trouble urinating, surgical operation may be an option. At our clinic, we offer the minimally invasive Discseel® Procedure as an alternative treatment to surgical operations like laminectomy, spinal fusion surgery etc.

Conservative treatment for lumbar spinal canal stenosis

Conservative treatment is often the first choice for spinal canal stenosis, because it offers a variety of ways to improve the patient's condition only with medication and physical therapy.

How Is Our Clinic’s Treatment Effective for Spinal Stenosis?

First, since surgery for spinal stenosis exists, we would like simply to do a comparison. Surgery began typically to be performed in the 1960s, but bone was removed, immobilizing the area was sometimes necessary, the risks of surgery were high, and it was not a treatment of the root cause, so the high recurrence rate of 30-46% (within 2 years) was a problem. Now people have figured out how to use endoscopes and make the scar small, but by the same principle, surgery does not treat the root cause, so the risks and recurrence rate remain high.

Intervertebral disc treatment taking into consideration the problems with surgery explained above began in the 1980s. At present, The Discseel® Procedure has also begun. The principle of The Discseel® Procedure is that it is a treatment that, by improving intervertebral disc function, can improve the burden on the bones, at the same time eliminating pressure on the nerves. The Discseel® Procedure’s distinguishing features are that the risks are extremely low because it just repairs intervertebral discs, and the recurrence rate is low because it treats the root cause of spinal stenosis.

Since this treatment has a low-risk and low recurrence rate, the toll on the body is minimal. In addition, since the needle is very thin, the wound left is small and usually closes in a week, with no scar apparent. At our hospital, the consultations are conducted in the morning and the treatments are performed in the afternoon, which makes it easier for patients who live far away or overseas to undergo the treatment. The procedure is performed as an ambulatory treatment. We can also conduct remote image diagnosis in advance to determine if The Discseel® Procedure is applicable.

Treatment Overview

• The Discseel

  Discseel® Procedure

  

  Discseel® Procedure was developed by an American surgeon by the name of Dr. Kevin Pauza, after caring for hundreds of patients who were made worse following their spine surgery. The treatment aims to seal tears in herniated vertebral discs and help them regenerate and recover their, allowing permanent relief of back pain. Dr. Pauza holds a series of 16 patents for a device and Discseel® biologic that support the treatment. Dr.Nonaka has been licensed to perform the Discseel® Procedure in 2018, and more than 2,880 patient have undergone the treatment in our clinic since then. At present, approximately 20 doctors, including physicians from Harvard and Boston Universities are using the Discseel® Procedure to treat their patients in the USA. Dr. Nonaka is the first physician trained to perform the Discseel® Procedure in Japan.

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• The PODT Method
  (Ozone)

  Percutaneous Ozone Disc
  Treatment

  

  PODT is a method that improves low back pain due to discitis or herniated discs or nerve pain due to spinal stenosis by using a 0.8 mm puncture needle to inject ozone into the intervertebral disc’s nucleus pulposus. We cannot say that the particulars of ozone’s anti-inflammatory effect have been elucidated, but it is thought that, by stimulating the inside of the body, ozone treatment intentionally produces a strong immune response and puts an end in a short time to any inflammation that has occurred. The ozone itself is only injected inside the intervertebral disc, but the treatable conditions are not confined to herniated discs: the treatment is also effective for spinal stenosis or vertebral canal stenosis. The reason is believed to be that the ozone injected into the intervertebral disc passes through the damaged disc and permeates surrounding tissue. With the patient under local anesthesia, and while using an X-ray fluoroscope, we safely place a 0.8 mm puncture needle into the intervertebral disc. After that, we inject ozone in proportion to the state of the damage. We finish by checking with the X-ray fluoroscope whether ozone has permeated into and outside of the intervertebral disc.

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Spinal canal stenosis: FAQ

Targeted Conditions

• Disc Herniation

  
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• Spinal Canal Stenosis

  
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• Sciatica

  
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• Spondylolisthesis

  
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• Disc Degeneration

  
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• Lumbar Spondylosis

  
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