From: The boot camp program for lumbar spinal stenosis: a protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Inclusion criteria | |
1. Age greater or equal to 50 years | |
2. Clinical symptoms of back and/or radiating lower limb or buttock pain; fatigue or loss of sensation in the lower limbs aggravated by walking and/or standing and relieved by sitting. | |
3. Intermittent or persistent pain without progressive neurological dysfunction | |
4. Duration of symptoms and signs for more than 3 months | |
5. Imaging confirmed spinal canal narrowing using MRI, CT scan, myelography or ultrasound | |
6. Clinical signs and symptoms corresponding to segmental level of narrowing identified by imaging | |
7. Patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis are included | |
8. Not considered to be a surgical candidate (in the next 12 months) or patient unwilling to have surgery | |
9. Able to perform mild-moderate exercise | |
10. Able to walk without assistive devices for at least 20 m and less than 30 min continuously | |
11. Able to give written informed consent and complete interviews and questionnaires in English. | |
Exclusion criteria | |
1. Severe degenerative stenosis with intractable pain and progressive neurological dysfunction | |
2. Lumbar spinal stenosis not caused by degeneration | |
3. Lumbar herniated disc diagnosed during the last 12 months | |
4. Previous back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis or instability | |
5. Underlying spinal disorder such as ankylosing spondylitis, neoplasm, infection or metabolic disease | |
6. Intermittent claudication due to vascular disease | |
7. Severe osteoarthrosis or arthritis of lower extremities causing limited walking ability | |
8. Neurologic disease causing impaired function of the lower limbs, including diabetes | |
9. Psychiatric disorders and/or cognitively impaired |