Prevalence of cervical spinal stenosis and its association with body mass index among Uttar Pradesh population

Abstract

Spondylolisthesis occurs when one of the bones of the spine termed as vertebra slips forward on the vertebra directly below it thus causing significant pain and nerve injury. Damage to the integrity of the disc accompanied by mechanical compression or chemical damage to the nerve roots is the result of both static compressive loading and increased pressures in particular postures.This study was done to study the effect of BMI on lumbar spinal canal diameter, to find the value of spinal canal diameter with respect to age & gender and to correlate spinal stenosis with BMI.This was an observational, case control study conducted over 361 subjects. The studied participants suffering from spinal stenosis that underwent MRI and were aged between 30 years to 60 years visiting the outpatient department (OPD) of Department of Radiology, Era’s Lucknow Medical College & Hospital were included in the study. The age distribution showed that most of the cases belong to the age group 40-44 yr. (22.7%), 30-34 yr. (21.1%) and 35-39 yr. (18.3%). The mean age was 42.46±8.31 years. Our study also observed that at anterior posterior diameter and transverse diameter, no significant difference was observed in various cervical and lumbar spinal canal diameter for various categories of BMI (p>0.05), though in majority of the cases cervical spinal canal diameter was longer for higher BMI (>30 kg/m) and lumbar spinal canal diameter was shorter for higher BMI. Treatment and prevention of being obese is requisite public health priority. If successful, such results may lead to the minimization of the severity and extent of spondylolisthesis, which in turn may also reduce the risk of low back pain and the subsequent need for management.