Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic lumbar intervertebral disc discectomy for senile lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and surgical technique of percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic lumbar intervertebral disc discectomy (TES) for senile lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion.Methods Twenty-three patients with senile lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion were admitted to percutaneous TES from April 2009 to April 2010. Surgical segments included L4-5 in 11 cases, L5-S1 in 9cases,L3-4 in 3 cases. There were 10 contained and 13 non-contained,6 disc herniation in or out of the foramen and 1 recurred. Nine simple cases were treated by TES and 14 cases with narrow foramens treated by intervertebral foraminal plasty at the same time. Visual analogue scale (VAS),Oswestry disability index (ODI) and the modified MacNab criteria were employed to evaluate the clinical outcome. Results There was no dural matter tear and intraoperative neurovascular injury. Two patients suffered transient hyperalgia in lower limbs which were healed after 1 week by conservative treatments. All patients were followed up with mean period of 6-12(9.53 ± 3.02) months. The VAS of sciatica decreased from(8.3 ± 1.2) scores preoperatively to (3.7 ±2.1) scores at three days postoperatively and ( 1.5 ± 1.2) scores at the last follow-up visit (P＜0.01). The ODI decreased from 53.3 ± 24.0 preoperatively to 26.2 ± 15.0 at three days postoperatively and 20.4 ± 6.0 at the last follow-up visit(P＜ 0.01). There were 18 excellent,3 good and 2 fair outcomes according to modified MacNab criteria with the excellent to good rate of 91.3% (21/23). Conclusion TES is applicable for senile lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion, which has the advantages of minimal invasion, less haemorrhage,early function recovery and it is a safe and effective method. Key words: Aged;  Intervertebral disk displacement;  Endoscopy