Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis: Back Pain and the PLIF Procedure

Back pain is a leading healthcare complication among the adult population in the United States. While some back pain is associated with injury, many adults experience significant back pain in response to the aging process. If you suffer from back pain, even with the aging process, it is important to seek medical attention as the condition may be related to the slow progression of degenerative lumbar scoliosis.

Degenerative lumbar scoliosis is commonly seen among the aging population, but can be found in mid-adulthood as well. In rare cases, the development of lumbar scoliosis is in direct response to the development of canal stenosis after decompression back surgery.

While decompression surgery is designed to improve nerve complications and improve stability in the spine, many back surgery candidates experience far greater health risks following back surgery, thus leading to the development of degenerative lumbar scoliosis.

If you suffer from back pain that may require surgical intervention, it is important to ask your surgeon about the risks associated with development degenerative lumbar scoliosis post-operatively. Even with the best efforts at corrective surgery, if the integrity of your vertebrae are compromised, you may expect to experience long term health complications as you age and develop a curvature of the spine as a result of your surgical intervention.

In preventing the curvature of the spine, many neurosurgeons are utilizing a procedure known as posterior lumbar interbody fusion, PLIF. With this procedure, the curvature associated with decompression post-operative complications may be deferred. In fact, if you develop curvature after your lumbar decompression surgery, the PLIF procedure can still be performed, with an improvement commonly seen as much as 50 percent.