How is lumbar spondylolisthesis treated?

  Lumbar spondylolisthesis is easily diagnosed on the basis of chronic lower back pain with painful numbness in one or both lower extremities, intermittent claudication, wobbly gait and deformed body shape in severe cases, step-like spinous process, and signs of nerve root and cauda equina compression, combined with proprietary X-ray and MRI imaging. X-ray lateral films are of great value in the diagnosis of lumbar spondylolisthesis and are the main means of measuring the degree of slippage. The vertebral body slips forward with varying degrees of rotation, and oblique transillumination bands can be seen when the isthmus is not connected. The isthmus fissure on the right and left oblique X-ray films shows a dog collar sign. The isthmic fissure on MRI shows a low signal band, and the double joint sign and bilateral sign are helpful for the diagnosis of lumbar spine slippage.  Whether it is a degenerative lumbar slippage or an isthmic collapse slippage, surgery is often required after strict conservative treatment is ineffective and symptoms recur. The indications for surgery are: slippage of degree II or less, persistent lower back pain or increased lower back pain symptoms, and ineffective after conservative treatment. The presence of lumbar disc herniation or spinal stenosis with nerve root pain in the lower extremities, intermittent claudication or cauda equina compression. The disease duration is long and tends to get progressively worse, the severity of symptoms is consistent with the degree of aggravation of slippage and the degree of degenerative disc degeneration, and the progress of slippage is confirmed by imaging. Severe slippage of degree III or greater.  The traditional posterior lateral implant fusion after decompression of the vertebral plate is the common surgical method for the treatment of lumbar slippage, and the decompression of the lateral saphenous fossa and intervertebral foramen is not complete. It is often an important cause of residual postoperative nerve root symptoms. Without posterior lateral implant fusion between the lesioned vertebral bodies, the anterior and middle columns of the spine lack support and fusion, making it difficult to correct vertebral slippage and restore the physiological curvature of the vertebral body. With posterior lateral implant fusion and the transmission of most of the gravitational load by the pedicle system, there is minor deformation and displacement of the intervertebral disc, which may be the reason for the persistence of lower back pain.  Interbody graft fusion through the intervertebral foramen is the commonly used treatment technique today. After interbody implant fusion and internal fixation of the pedicle nail to rebuild the support of the anterior column and the tension band function of the posterior column to obtain better stability, the pain-causing substance of the disc is eliminated by removing the disc tissue, and the interbody fusion eliminates the instability of the intervertebral body, thus eliminating the material and biomechanical pain-causing factors. For degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, unilateral operation is feasible, and interbody bone graft fusion is performed by unilateral partial removal of the vertebral plate and supra-articular processes, which preserves the structure of the posterior lateral ligament complex and muscle attachment points of the spine, which is conducive to the functional recovery of the lumbar back muscles and increases the biomechanical stability of the spine. In particular, the operation of transvertebral foraminal bone graft fusion is below the exiting nerve, above the longitudinal nerve root and the lateral space of the dural sac, which minimizes the strain on the nerve root and dura mater and greatly reduces the chance of nerve root injury and scar formation around the nerve root or dural sac tear.