Surgery for spinal canal stenosis in patients with severe thoraco-lumbar scoliosis can be effective in relieving radicular pain, weakness and numbness, and while not curative can greatly improve the quality of life.

The current case demonstrates the need for posterior spinal reconstruction in osteoporotic vertebral collapse. Cement augmentation and extension of posterior instrumentation are both viable techniques that could be used to improve stabilization in the elderly spine.

Study design: A case report of a patient with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) associated with ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and dens hypertrophy resulting in spinal canal stenosis and progressive hemiplegia Objective: To demonstrate the excellent functional outcome following posterior spinal decompression and fusion.Methods: In December 2012, a 72-year-old male patient, who was diagnosed with hyperostosis of anterior and posterior longitudinal ligament 6 months ago, presented with rapidly increasing motor deficit of the left arm and unsecure gait pattern. X-rays, CT, and MRI diagnosed DISH and OPLL. Hyperintense signal in the C1 spinal cord on T2 weighted sequence was also observed. Patient underwent decompressive foraminotomy of foramen magnum and laminectomy of C1-C4 with Occiput -C5 fusion.Results: Neurological status and myelopathy improved to a great extent after surgical intervention. Conclusion:The current case demonstrates the scenario of DISH associated hemiplegia and the need for a posterior spinal decompression and fusion.

Phantom limb (PL) is a term used to designate the sensation of the presence of an extremity following amputation, and it may be seen immediately after injury or years later in the part of the body that is deafferented or amputated. Phantom limb pain (PLP) is the term used to describe painful sensations referred to the absent limb. We present a case of a 71-year-old male with spinal claudication from discoligamentous lumbar canal stenosis L3-L4 and L4-L5 with L5 radicular pain in the left PL 13 years after the amputation. The patient had a disappearance of his radicular pain in the left PL following microsurgical lumbar decompression of L3-L4 and L4-L5. This is one of the rare cases reported in the literature in which a radicular pain in the PL disappeared following surgical decompression of the spinal canal.