Post-operative Morbidity and Mortality of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis at a Teaching Hospital in North-Eastern Benin

Background and Aim: Surgical management of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (LSS) is a common practice. This study aimed to report the morbidities and mortalities observed during surgical treatment of LSS and the outcome of these patients after management over an 8-year study period. Methods and Materials/Patients: It was a retrospective, descriptive, and transversal study performed at the Departmental Teaching Hospital of Borgou in the Republic of Benin (West Africa) from January 2010 to December 2018. This study included the patients who underwent surgical management for LSS. Type of complication, its management, and the patient’s outcome were registered. Results: During the study period and based on the selection criteria, 239 patients were selected. These patients were divided into 135 men (56.5%) and 104 women (43.5%). The mean age of the patients was 52.3±10.9 years. Laminectomy was performed on one, two, and three lumbar spinal segments in 17.6%, 55.6% and 26.8% of cases, respectively. Laminectomy was associated with discectomy in 6.3% of the cases. No arthrodesis with spinal fixation was performed. Ninetypercent of patients had no post-operative complications. Functional post-operative results were considered excellent, good, acceptable and poor in 32.1%, 52.1%, 10.9% and 4.9% of cases, respectively. Five types of complications were observed in 22 patients (9.2%). A reoperation was performed in 1.6% of cases. These different complications included dural tear (4.6%), wound infection (3.3%), stroke (0.8%), cauda equina syndrome (0.4%) and pseudomeningocele (0.4%). The mortality rate was 0.8% (n=2). Conclusion: Lumbar canal stenosis surgery is not without complications. Careful selection of patients, consideration of risk factors, and selection of an appropriate surgical strategy can reduce or avoid these complications.