Comparison of microendoscopic discectomy and open discectomy for single-segment lumbar disc herniation

BACKGROUND Lumbar disc herniation is a common disease.Endoscopic treatment may have more advantages than traditional surgery.AIM To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of microendoscopic discectomy(MED)and open discectomy with lamina nucleus enucleation in the treatment of singlesegment lumbar intervertebral disc herniation.METHODS Ninety-six patients who were operated at our hospital were selected for this study.Patients with single-segment lumbar disc herniation were admitted to the hospital from March 2018 to March 2019 and were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group with 48 cases in each group.The former group underwent lumbar discectomy and the latter underwent laparotomy and nucleus pulpectomy.Surgical effects were compared between the two groups.RESULTS In terms of surgical indicators,the observation group had a longer operation time,shorter postoperative bedtime and hospital stay,less intraoperative blood loss,and smaller incision length than the control group(P<0.05).The excellent recovery rate did not differ significantly between the observation group(93.75%)and the control group(91.67%).Visual analogue scale pain scores were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group at 1 d,3 d,1 mo,and 6 mo after surgery(P<0.05).The incidence of complications was significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group(6.25%vs 22.92%,P<0.05).CONCLUSION Both MED and open discectomy can effectively improve single-segment lumbar disc herniation,but MED is associated with less trauma,less bleeding,and a lower incidence of complications.

LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF FENESTRATED DISCECTOMY FOR LUMBAR DISC

Objective To evaluate the long-term outcomes of fenestrated discectomy for lumbar disc herniation and analyze the correlative influence factors. Methods Eighty-two cases of lumbar disc herniation, from February 1996 to May 1999, were retrospectively studied. All patients were treated with simple fenestrated discectomy. The average follow-up time was 8 years and 7 months （from 7 years tolO years and 3months）. There were 13, 38 and 31 cases at 13 - L4, L4 - L5 and L5 - S1 level, respectively. Results The average scales before operation were as following ： Japanes Orthopaedics Association （ JOA ） scale 6. 5 （ 5 - 9 ） , visual analysis scale （ VAS） of low back pain4.8 （0-8）. and VAS of sciatica 7.2 （4-10）. At the final follow-up, the above parameters were 13.2 （ 10 - 14 ）, 1.8 （0 - 10） and 1.2 （0 - 7）, respectively. The average increase ratio of JOA scale was 78. 8%. The average disc-vertebra height ratio （ Mochida method） was 80.2%. At the final follow-up, 7 cases reoccurred disc herniation. The final clinical satisfaction rate was 80% （ modified Macnab method ）. Conclusion With appropriate surgical indications, the successfid long-term outcomes could be expected with fenestrated discectomy. Discectomy improves sciatica to a greater extent than low back pain. The occurrence of low back pain is related to intervertebral disc height, segment stability, disc degeneration, and lumbar muscle disability.