The Morphology of Lumbosacral spine and Spinal Canal

Back pain is a public health problem worldwide. It causes suffering and distress to patients and their families. The important cause of back pain is Spinal Canal Stenosis (SCS).Due to the various anatomical differences among population, a clear definition of SCS is lacking. This makes the comparison and interpretation of literature on incidence, prevalence and treatment difficult. The study aimed to determine the normal dimensions of the spine and spinal canal among Sudanese population, identify age, sex and racial related differences in morphometry of the spine and spinal canal dimensions among Sudanese groups, provide criteria for diagnosing spinal stenosis in the Sudanese population, and to evaluate the relation between the severity of concurrent neurological symptoms and the spinal canal stenosis as an indication of spinal decompression surgery. The study was a comparative cross-sectional descriptive study. It has used random sampling technique targeting 243participants from normal asymptomatic population and patients of spinal stenosis. A checklist and a questionnaire were used to collect data from the normal asymptomatic population and the patients respectively.