Less invasive decompressive surgery has emerged as a logical surgical treatment alternative to wide decompression of spinal stenosis. The clinical outcomes of such conservative surgical treatment, however, are not well known. The aim of the study was to evaluate short-term psychometric and functional outcomes after conservative decompressive surgery for lumbar canal stenosis. Forty patients had a lumbar laminectomy procedure, which preserved the integrity of the neural arches, facet joints and most muscle attachments. Pre-operative clinical evaluation of the patients included: Waddell's non-organic signs (NOS) performed by an independent surgeon observer; three self-report questionnaires--the Waddell Disability Index (WDI), the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire (ODI), and the Low Back Outcome Score (LBOS); and a general questionnaire that included a visual analog pain intensity scale (VAS). Post-operative clinical evaluations and questionnaires were obtained in 36 subjects (mean age 59.8 years) after a 1.7-year follow-up (range 1-2.6 years). Pre-operative versus post-operative statistical comparisons of the data were performed using adjusted error rates within families of predictors. Successful surgical outcome was defined as an improvement in at least three of the following four criteria: self-reported pain on a VAS, self-reported functional status measured by LBOS, reduction of pain during walking and reduction of leg pain. At follow-up, there was a statistically significant improvement in VAS pain intensity, ODI, WDI, and LBOS. Patients classified as having mixed stenosis had a higher incidence of continuous pain symptoms in comparison with acquired stenosis, but there was no differential improvement with treatment depending upon stenosis classification and/or number of operative levels. Overall, 58% (21/36) of patients met the successful surgical outcome criteria, including 14 subjects who met all four success criteria. Based upon a stringent definition of successful surgical outcome, the results of a conservative laminectomy were as good as those of more aggressive decompressive procedures presented in the literature. Our findings indicate that, even in a highly organic disorder such as spinal stenosis, illness behavior plays an important role in predicting surgical outcome.