The use of an interspinous implant in conjunction with a graded facetectomy procedure.

Study Design: The range of motion (ROM) of lumbar cadaver spines was measured during flexion, extension, axial rotation, and lateral bending following graded facetectomies and implantation of an X STOP interspinous spacer implant.

Objective: The study was performed undertaken to understand better the influence of the interspinous spacer implant on the kinematics of the lumbar spine following graded facetectomies.

Summary Of The Background Data: Lateral lumbar spinal stenosis is often treated with a unilateral or bilateral facetectomy procedure.