Spondylolisthesis

Spondylolisthesis often occurs in the elderly when the joints that allow the spine to bend forward (facet joints) wear with age and allow one vertebra to slip over another. Adolescent athletes who perform repetitive hyperexten­sion, such as gymnasts, can be at an increased risk for spondylolisthesis. A patient with spon­dylolisthesis often experiences generalized pain in the lower back and intermittent shocks of shooting pain that begins in the buttocks and travels down into the back of the thigh and lower leg. Nonsurgical treatment can include NSAIDS, oral steroids, physical therapy, and epidural steroid injections. Surgical treatment is only considered after at least 6 weeks and often only after 6 to 12 months of nonoperative therapy has failed to relieve symptoms.