[Exercise reduced the need for operation in lumbar spinal stenosis. Circulatory load in the form of cycling gave good effect].

Conservative treatment is being reported to relieve walk related leg pain or improve life quality in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Such treatment often combines various interventions, making it difficult to identify single effective measures. At our clinic, specialized in spine surgery, the care of the patients with lumbar spinal stenosis starts with a 4 months training program when the patient typically uses a stationary bike at a circulatory load of about 70% of maximal capacity. Need of surgery is evaluated after the training period. The present study compares oxygen uptake capacity and walking capacity before and after the training period. The main findings are: no clear correlation between change of oxygen uptake capacity and change of walking distance; no correlation between individual cauda equina cross-sectional area and improvement of walking distance during the training program; almost half of the patients who completed the training program felt their lumbar spinal stenosis symptoms improved to such an extent that surgery was not required (26/54).