Thirty-four patients who had central stenosis of the lumbar spine were
treated with wide fenestration, a procedure in which only the medial parts
of the inferior facets and the adjoining ligamentum flavum were removed.
The patients were followed for an average of five and one-half years
(range, four and one-half years to seven years and ten months). Wide
fenestration successfully relieved the symptoms. The new bone that was laid
down in the operatively treated segments did not reproduce the symptoms of
spinal stenosis; instead, it appeared to stabilize those segments.