open and unobstructed
This means that the openings in the canal and foramina are normal in size, thus there is no restrictions that would cause any nerve problems.
The auditory canal is your inner ear - the part inside your cranium. Patent means open. A widely patent auditory canal would be one that is especially wide/open/large.
It means the canal and foramina are normal in size and allows for nerves to pass through freely without restriction.
It's good news -- no spinal stenosis.
Vertebral foramen are the spaces between adjacent vertebrae where the spinal nerves exit the spinal canal.
The central canal is part of the human spine. When it is said that it is patent, that means that the openings of the spine area are open.
The Neural Foramen are grooves in the vertebra, just behind the vertebral body that the nerves that branch off the spinal cord exit the spinal canal from. If they are grossly patent they are open, and free from obstruction, so there is no compression of the nerves that course through these channels.
The Sacral Canal runs throughout the greater part of the Sacral bone, The four Posterior Sacral Foramina are lateral to the articular processes of the Sacrum and are smaller in size and less regular in form than the anterior.
The central canal of the spinal cord. The central canal, also known as ependymal canal, is the cerebrospinal fluid-filled space that runs longitudinally through the length of the entire spinal cord.
Combined vertebral foramina forms the spinal canal. The spinal cord of the central nervous system is located within that canal.
It's basically compression of your spine by the surrounding canal in the specific area your doctor is speaking of. Foramina, in this case, are the spaces in between your vertebrae. Encroachment is squeezing or compression of those spaces. I have bilateral bony foraminal encroachment of some of the disc spaces of my C spine. It doesn't normally bother me at all, though.
vagina