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Diagnosis and Management of Spondyloptosis

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Spondylolisthesis

Abstract

Spondyloptosis is characterized by a complete slip of one vertebral body over another, most commonly seen at L5–S1. High-grade slips and spondyloptosis have been associated with a high pelvic incidence, increasing the shear forces across the lumbosacral junction, further aggravating the slip angle. In addition, spondyloptosis is often associated with back pain and symptoms of spinal canal stenosis, along with sagittal plane deformity with or without compensatory coronal plane deformity. While conservative management may be the first line of treatment for an adult patient, surgical intervention is often required to control patient symptoms and prevent further slippage, especially in a young patient. Surgical management options are controversial and range from neural decompression, in situ fusion, to partial or complete reduction of the listhesis with or without vertebral resection. In this chapter, we will review the different approaches to this problem described in the literature. The surgeon should tailor their management for the patient based on symptoms and the magnitude of deformity.

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Acknowledgements

We want to acknowledge Drs. Ali M. Maziad and Oheneba Boachie-Adjei for their work on the first edition of this text, upon which this chapter is based.

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Correspondence to Matthew A. Follett .

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Follett, M.A., Hu, S.S. (2023). Diagnosis and Management of Spondyloptosis. In: Wollowick, A.L., Sarwahi, V. (eds) Spondylolisthesis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27253-0_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27253-0_23

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