The veteran's postoperative low back disability, resulting from spondylolysis at L5 with laminectomy and spinal fusion, is currently rated as 20 percent disabling. The evidence does not support a higher evaluation due to moderate limitation of motion.
The deciding factor: The VA examination reports did not show severe limitation of motion or ankylosis of the thoracolumbar spine, which are required for a higher rating under the current schedular criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- Spondylolysis, Laminectomy, Spinal Fusion
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- October 26, 2006
- Citation
- 0633137
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,514 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0633137.
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for spinal fusion and assigned a 40% rating effective January 22, 2021. The decision was based on the Veteran's original claim submitted in 2007.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease and that any current condition is not related to active duty.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development due to insufficient medical evidence and issues related to radiculopathy of both lower extremities. The Veteran's low back disability is rated at 10 percent, but there are separate ratings for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases of increased rating for spinal fusion and TDIU for the appeal period prior to March 18, 2005 due to incomplete VA examination reports. The Veteran is required to provide any outstanding private or VA treatment records and will be scheduled for a new VA examination.
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