The contribution of lumbar radiculography to the diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis at the Yalgado Ouedraogo National Hospital Center in Ouagadougou

A retrospective study was conducted in 250 patients between 1(st) November, 1994, and 30 March, 1997. Mean age was 48 years, the male-to-female ratio was 2.4, and 40% of patients were blue-collar production workers or farmers . Chronic low back pain was the most common symptom (40%), followed by neur ogenic intermittent claudication (30%). Mean time from symptom onset to the first medical visit was 15 months. Lumbar radiculography was performed in all patients. it was normal in 25 cases (10%) and showed lumbar spinal sten osis in 85. Of these 85 cases, 26% were constitutional, 46% were acquired a nd 22.5% were both. The radio-clinical correlation was 85%, and in the 50 s urgically-treated patients the radiosurgical correlation was 80%. The most common sources of stenosis were facet joint osteoarthritis and hypertrophy, disk protrusion, and ligamentum flavum hypertrophy. The findings from this study indicate that lumbar radiculography is sensitive and reliable in the diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis when neither computed tomography nor m agnetic resonance imaging is available. They also delineate the place of th is condition and its management in the study hospital.