MSc. Vu Duc Thang, Spine Department, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, although spondylolisthesis is not life-threatening, if not treated promptly, it can lead to cauda equina complications.
When this complication becomes severe, the patient becomes incontinent in urinating and defecating, and becomes permanently paralyzed in the legs.
Depending on the stage, spondylolisthesis has different warning signs.
Early stage: Patients often have no obvious symptoms or only feel transient back pain.
As the disease progresses: Back pain gets worse, pain when walking, standing for long periods of time, bending the spine.
Back pain is one of the characteristic signs of spondylolisthesis.
Severe stage: Symptoms appear of muscle spasticity in the waist and muscle tension in the inner thighs, walking slightly forward, possibly accompanied by scoliosis to one side, changing posture and gait.
Over time, patients experience chronic lumbar spine pain with more frequent episodes.
Doctor Thang said that in most cases of spondylolisthesis, pain is significantly reduced with proper medical treatment such as using pain relievers, anti-inflammatories, and reasonable rest… Among them, regular exercise not only helps reduce pain.
Some suitable exercises for patients are as follows:
Pull your knees close to your chest: Start in a supine position, bend your knees so that the soles of your feet are on the floor.
Hamstring stretch: Sit on the floor, stretch your legs forward, keeping your toes pointed toward the ceiling.
Doctor Thang (second from right) in an operation to treat spinal disease.
In more severe cases, conservative treatment is ineffective or the disease symptoms affect daily life and work, causing severe pain, complications such as reduced mobility in one or both legs, muscle atrophy, and bladder sphincter disorders.
Some commonly applied surgical methods include correction of spondylolisthesis, spinal fixation with pedicle screws, and posterior intervertebral bone grafting.