BACKGROUND The degree of postoperative symptom improvement in patients with lumbar
spinal stenosis (LSS) is crucial to their postoperative rehabilitation process and functional exercise.
Corticosteroids have certain anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to explore whether small doses of
corticosteroids would improve postoperative neurological symptoms in patients with lumbar
spinal stenosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients with lumbar
spinal stenosis who underwent open surgery were divided into a
corticosteroid therapy group (CTG) and a non-
corticosteroid therapy group (NCTG). They were followed up for 24 months after surgery. The numeric rating scale (NRS) for leg
pain (NRS-LP) and leg
numbness (NRS-LN), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores, and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) scores of the 2 groups were compared at different time points to evaluate the
therapeutic effect. RESULTS Of the 232 eligible patients enrolled, 128 received
corticosteroids and 104 did not. At the 1-month postoperative follow-up, patients in the CTG had significantly lower NRS-LP and NRS-LN scores than those in the NCTG (P=0.017; P=0.043). At the 3-month follow-up, the NRS-LP and ODI scores of patients in the CTG were significantly lower than those of the NCTG (P=0.015; P=0.027), and SF-36 scores were significantly higher than that of the NCTG (P=0.012). At the 6-month follow-up, the SF-36 scores of patients in the CTG was significantly higher than that of the NCTG (P=0.008). CONCLUSIONS Small doses of
corticosteroid therapy for postoperative lumbar
spinal stenosis reduced symptoms and improved quality of life scores after surgery. However, it had little long-term impact on final patient outcomes.