Abstract:Degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS) refers to a disease in which the entire upper vertebral body (vertebral body and posterior part of vertebral body, including pedicle and facet joints) slides relative to the lower vertebral body on the basis of spinal degeneration. Currently, DLS is also a prevalent clinical condition that causes lower back and leg pain in middle-aged and elderly people. With the aging of our society, especially the increasing number of middle-aged and elderly people suffering from degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, this condition has caused a huge medical burden on our society. It is imperative to study the risk factors and pathogenesis of lumbar spondylolisthesis. However, its pathogenesis remians unclear, and especially, the role of changes in the facet joint orientation in the pathogenesis of degenerative vertebral slip has been controversial. This article provides a review of the research progress on the causal relationship between changes in the facet joint orientation and degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis.