Cervical spinal stenosis: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

Spinal column diseases negatively affect the entire human body. Stenosis of the spinal canal of the cervical spine can provoke not only problems with control over the upper body, but even stroke or death. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the presented pathology immediately after you feel its first signs.

What is a disease?

Stenosis of the spinal canal of the cervical spine is a decrease in the volume of its lumen, which can be congenital or acquired. Such a disease occurs quite often. However, it is typical for people who have already crossed a 60-year milestone.

At a young age, pathology is extremely rare. If it does, then often it is provoked by congenital factors. The narrowing of the canal in which the spinal cord is located is a dangerous phenomenon, therefore it should be treated.

Disease classification

So, stenosis of the spinal canal of the cervical can be:

1. Acquired. In this case, external factors influenced its development.
2. Congenital. Pathology is laid genetically or began to develop due to the not quite correct intrauterine formation of the fetus.
3. Combined. Here two groups of factors already influence: external and internal.

According to the clinical degree, pathology can be classified as follows:

• Acquired non-degenerative.
• Constitutional (here we mean the anatomical features of the body).
• Degenerative
• Caused by an abnormality or dysplasia of the spine.

According to the area of ​​lesion, stenosis of the spinal canal of the cervical region is absolute (if the channel has an area of ​​more than 75 mm ² ) and relative (if this indicator drops below 75 mm sq).

Reasons for the development of pathology

This disease is usually provoked by such factors:

• Compression fracture or other types of spinal injuries.
• Congenital malformation of the vertebrae, provoked by a woman's illness during pregnancy.
• Inflammatory processes in the spine.
• Ankylosing spondylitis.
• Intervertebral formation: hernia, malignant or benign tumor, metastases in the spine.
• Spondylarthrosis, contributing to the deformation of the spinal column.
• Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.
• Bone growths and osteophytes.

Symptoms of pathology

Stenosis of the spinal canal of the cervical spine is a complex and dangerous disease, which is characterized by such signs:

1. Pain in the neck. They can be one-sided or localized on both sides. Discomfort initially only occurs after a person has been in an uncomfortable position for a long time. However, as the pathology progresses, the pain becomes aching and almost constant.
2. Headache in the temporal and occipital region. It has a different degree of intensity.
3. Loss of sensation of the skin, neck, head and even upper limbs.
4. Dizziness, having the ability to intensify during a sharp turn of the head.
5. Weakness in the hands, discomfort.
6. Impaired respiratory function.
7. Increased muscle tone in the arms and neck, although weakness does not go anywhere.

Features of the diagnosis of pathology

Relative or absolute stenosis of the cervical spinal canal can be determined using the following methods:

• Palpation of the affected area by a doctor, external examination of the patient, as well as fixation of his complaints. The doctor must collect a complete history to rule out a hereditary predisposition or confirm it.
• Roentgenography. It is done in 2 projections: lateral and anteroposterior. This diagnostic method is the most important and informative. It allows you to determine the presence and size of bone growths, the degree of integrity of the vertebrae, the presence of tumors or hernias, their size, structure and location.
• CT scan. Thanks to this study, the doctor is able to determine the factor that triggered the onset of the disease. The procedure allows you to see even the most microscopic changes in the spine.
• MRI This procedure is also considered very informative, but it is not always carried out because of its high cost. In addition, the patient in the case of its implementation receives strong radiation, so this study has a lot of contraindications.
• Myelogram. To conduct this study, a special contrast agent is introduced into the spine, with the help of which one can well examine its structure. In addition, the state of cerebrospinal fluid and its quantity are determined.

Conservative treatment of pathology

If you have stenosis of the cervical spinal canal, treatment should be started immediately. It starts with taking medications. Among them, you can choose the following:

• Depending on the intensity of pain, the patient is prescribed certain dosages of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: Piroxicam, Ibuprofen, Dicloberl.
• To reduce swelling, eliminate pain and squeeze vertebral structures, injections of hormonal drugs or glucocorticosteroids can be used: Prednisolone, Diprospan.
• To reduce the volume of cerebrospinal fluid, diuretics are used: magnesia or Lasix.

Naturally, drug therapy should be prescribed only by a specialist. It is impossible to take the above medicines on your own without consulting a doctor. Otherwise, you can harm yourself even more.

Features of physiotherapeutic treatment

Degenerative stenosis of the spinal canal of the cervical spine without appropriate treatment can lead to disastrous consequences. But in the early stages, physiotherapy can help in the fight against the disease. Your doctor will prescribe you one of the following procedures:

1. Electrophoresis with novocaine. This procedure contributes to effective analgesia, as the drug is delivered directly to the affected area.
2. Magnetotherapy. It makes it possible to eliminate pain and swelling.
3. Back massage and manual therapy. These procedures help to reduce muscle tone and at the same time strengthen them. Thanks to massage, you can also reduce pain.
4. Exercise therapy. Physiotherapy exercises make it possible to make the spine more flexible and mobile. At the initial stage, the exercises should not be difficult, and the load should be intense. The fact is that with a narrowing of the channel, circulatory disorders can occur.
5. Acupuncture. This procedure should be done only by an experienced specialist, so as not to harm the patient even more.
6. Spinal traction. The traction procedure can provoke the appearance of intervertebral hernias, therefore it is not always indicated.

Physiotherapeutic treatment gives very good results if the pathology is still at the first stages of development. Otherwise, surgery may be necessary.

Features of surgical intervention

If you have been diagnosed with stenosis of the spinal canal of the cervical spine, surgery may be unavoidable. They resort to it if conservative therapy has not yielded good results or the channel lumen area is catastrophically small. There are several types of operations that are performed with such a disease of the spine:

1. Removal of those growths and formations that could provoke a narrowing of the lumen: tumors, osteophytes, hernias. This operation is called "decompressive laminectomy."
2. Installation of systems that help strengthen and stabilize the spinal column.
3. Interspinous fixation of the vertebrae. This operation involves the installation of an implant instead of a remote affected area.

The main principle by which surgeons should act is not to harm. That is why, before the appointment of any intervention of these specialists, the patient must undergo a thorough examination and have absolute indications. Health risks should be lower than the probability of a positive outcome.

What complications can arise?

As you already understood, both primary and secondary stenosis of the cervical spinal canal requires careful treatment. However, if therapy for some reason was not started on time, the patient may experience the following complications:

• Reversible or irreversible loss of sensation or paralysis of the body (its individual parts).
• The possibility of complete immobilization.
• Stroke. This happens due to circulatory disorders and innervation of the spine. The normal mutual functionality of the spinal cord and brain becomes impossible.
• Myelopathy This is an extremely complex disease of a neurological nature, in which extreme weakness is felt in the limbs. But muscle tone is very high.
• Fatal outcome.

As you can see, complications can be fatal, so treatment should be started as quickly as possible.

Pathology Prevention

If you do not want your spinal stenosis to develop (we have already considered the symptoms, causes and treatment of the disease), you need to follow simple rules:

• Do not allow prolonged stay in the same position or lack of motor activity. It is advisable to periodically do neck exercises.
• Exercise therapy. It is used not only for treatment, but also for prevention.
• Under any circumstances, monitor your posture. This is especially important when sedentary work.
• Try to eat properly so that all the necessary substances enter the body.
• Any pathology should be treated on time.

Timely seeking specialized help gives a chance for recovery. Be healthy!