Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy combined with oblique lateral interbody fusion for degenerative lumbar diseases with ruptured disc herniation

Objective To investigate the preliminary clinical and radiographic outcomes of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) combined with oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) for the degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, lumbar spine instability or lumbar spinal stenosis with ruptured disc herniation. Methods Data of 11 patients with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, lumbar spine instability or lumbar spinal stenosis with ruptured disc herniation who had undergone PELD combined with OLIF between March 2017 to July 2018 in our spine surgery center were retrospectively analyzed. There were 5 males and 6 females with an average age of 61.2±6.8 years old. All the patients were diagnosed with degenerative lumbar diseases including lumbar spondylolisthesis (7 cases), lumbar spinal stenosis (3 cases) and segmental instability (1 case). The patients were treated with PELD combined with OLIF. The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of low back pain and lower limb pain and the Oswestry disability index (ODI) of lumbar function, spinal canal anteroposterior diameter, intervertebral disc height, vertical diameter of intervertebral foramen, segmental angle and the whole lumbar lordotic angle were collected. Results All patients received PELD with local anesthesia before OLIF with general anesthesia. The mean operation time was 52.3±13.2 min and the mean blood loss was 10.9±4.7 ml for PELD. The mean operation time was 56.8±18.0 min and the mean blood loss was 65.5±24.6 ml for OLIF. All patients were followed up for an average of 11.2 months. At the latest follow-up, the mean VAS score for back pain was 1.3±0.8, the mean VAS score for leg pain 1.1±0.5, the mean ODI 14.6%±5.3%, thus all of those were improved significantly compared to those of pre-operation (t=10.37, 16.49, 8.73; P< 0.05). The radiographic results showed the mean pre-operative intervertebral disc height, vertical diameter of intervertebral foramen, spinal canal anteroposterior diameter, segmental angle, and lumbar lordosis angle was 7.1±1.2 mm, 15.3±2.2 mm, 6.2±1.3 mm, 10.2°±3.5°, 16.2°±6.2°, and thus all of those were increased significantly to the latest follow-up 11.5±1.8 mm, 19.2±2.6 mm, 10.4±2.5 mm, 19.3°±7.8°, 27.4°±8.3°, respectively (t=5.83, 4.21, 6.59, 10.32, 7.65; P< 0.05). One of the patients had weakness of flexor hip strength and one had a transient paresthesia immediately post-operation. All symptoms were relieved within 1 month. Another one case had cage subsidence and encountered serious back pain after 1 month, and alleviated after percutaneous pedicle screw fixation. Conclusion PELD combined with OLIF can overcome the limitations of OLIF with indirect decompression effects, resulting in successful direct neural decompression without posterior decompressive procedures and providing a satisfactory outcome for the patients with degenerative lumbar diseases with ruptured disc herniation. Key words: Lumbar vertebrae; Intervertebral disc degeneration; Endoscopy; Spinal fusion; Surgical procedures, minimally invasive