Comparison of Endoscope-Assisted and Microscope-Assisted Tubular Surgery for Lumbar Laminectomies and Discectomies: Minimum 2-Year Follow-Up Results

Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery for Lumbar Decompression or Disc Herniation

Many people experience low back pain caused by degenerative disease of the lumbar spine; this includes spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, disc degeneration, and disc herniation. Conservative management of degenerative disease, which includes physical therapy, lifestyle modifications, and medications, is the initial approach. If this approach fails, a surgical procedure may be the next step. Previously, open lumbar surgery would have been the planned procedure; today, minimally invasive spine surgery gives patients another choice. Perioperative nurses should understand how minimally invasive spine surgery differs from the open procedure, the steps involved during a minimally invasive procedure, the benefits of this type of procedure, and nursing considerations for patients undergoing minimally invasive spinal procedures.

Complications in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery in the Last 10 Years: A Narrative Review

OBJECTIVE

Minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) employs small incisions and advanced techniques to minimize tissue damage while achieving similar outcomes to open surgery. MISS offers benefits such as reduced blood loss, shorter hospital stays, and lower costs. This review analyzes complications associated with MISS over the last 10 years, highlighting common issues and the impact of technological advancements.

METHODS

A systematic review following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines was conducted using PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase via OVID, and Cochrane databases, covering publications from January 2013 to March 2024. Keywords related to MISS and complications were used. Studies on adult patients undergoing MISS with tubular, uniportal, or biportal endoscopy, reporting intraoperative or postoperative complications, were included. Non-English publications, abstracts, and small case series were excluded. Data on MISS approach, patient demographics, and complications were extracted and reviewed by 2 independent researchers.

RESULTS

The search identified 880 studies, with 137 included after screening and exclusions. Key complications in cervical MISS were hematomas, transient nerve root palsy, and dural tears. In thoracic MISS, complications included cerebrospinal fluid leaks and durotomy. In lumbar MISS, common complications were incidental dural injuries, postoperative neuropathic conditions, and disc herniation recurrences. Complications varied by surgical approach.

CONCLUSION

MISS offers reduced anatomical disruption compared to open surgery, potentially decreasing nerve injury risk. However, complications such as nerve injuries, durotomies, and hardware misplacement still occur. Intraoperative neuromonitoring and advanced technologies like navigation can help mitigate these risks. Despite variability in complication rates, MISS remains a safe, effective alternative with ongoing advancements enhancing its outcomes.

Moderate to Severe Multifidus Fatty Atrophy is the Risk Factor for Recurrence After Microdiscectomy of Lumbar Disc Herniation

OBJECTIVE

We attempted to investigate the potential risk factors of recurrent lumbar disc herniation (rLDH) after tubular microdiscectomy.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients who underwent tubular microdiscectomy. The clinical and radiological factors were compared between the patients with and without rLDH.

RESULTS

This study included 350 patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) who underwent tubular microdiscectomy. The overall recurrence rate was 5.7% (20 of 350). The visual analogue scale (VAS) score and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at the final follow-up significantly improved compared with those preoperatively. There was no significant difference in the preoperative VAS score and ODI between the rLDH and non-rLDH groups, while the leg pain VAS score and ODI of the rLDH group were significantly higher than those of the non-rLDH group at final follow-up. This suggested that rLDH patients had a worse prognosis than non-rLDH patients even after reoperation. There were no significant differences in sex, age, body mass index, diabetes, current smoking and drinking, disc height index, sagittal range of motion, facet orientation, facet tropism, Pfirrmann grade, Modic changes, interdisc kyphosis, and large LDH between the 2 groups. Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that rLDH was associated with hypertension, multilevel microdiscectomy, and moderate-severe multifidus fatty atrophy (MFA). A multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that MFA was the sole and strongest risk factor for rLDH after tubular microdiscectomy.

CONCLUSION

Moderate-severe MFA was a risk factor for rLDH after tubular microdiscectomy, which can serve as an important reference for surgeons in formulating surgical strategies and the assessment of prognosis.

Development, validation, and visualization of a web-based nomogram to predict the effect of tubular microdiscectomy for lumbar disc herniation

Objective

The purpose of this study was to retrospectively collect the relevant clinical data of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) patients treated with the tubular microdiscectomy (TMD) technique, and to develop and validate a prediction model for predicting the treatment improvement rate of TMD in LDH patients at 1 year after surgery.

Methods

Relevant clinical data of LDH patients treated with the TMD technology were retrospectively collected. The follow-up period was 1 year after surgery. A total of 43 possible predictors were included, and the treatment improvement rate of the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score of the lumbar spine at 1 year after TMD was used as an outcome measure. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was used to screen out the most important predictors affecting the outcome indicators. In addition, logistic regression was used to construct the model, and a nomogram of the prediction model was drawn.

Results

A total of 273 patients with LDH were included in this study. Age, occupational factors, osteoporosis, Pfirrmann classification of intervertebral disc degeneration, and preoperative Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were screened out from the 43 possible predictors based on LASSO regression. A total of 5 predictors were included while drawing a nomogram of the model. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) value of the model was 0.795.

Conclusions

In this study, we successfully developed a good clinical prediction model that can predict the effect of TMD for LDH. A web calculator was designed on the basis of the model (https://fabinlin.shinyapps.io/DynNomapp/).

Differential Agnostic Effect Size Analysis of Lumbar Stenosis Surgeries

STUDY DESIGN

A meta-analysis of 89 randomized prospective, prospective, and retrospective studies on spinal endoscopic surgery outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to provide familiar Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), visual analog scale (VAS) back, and VAS leg effect size (ES) data following endoscopic decompression for sciatica-type back and leg pain due to lumbar herniated disc, foraminal, or lateral recess spinal stenosis.

BACKGROUND

Higher-grade objective clinical outcome ES data are more suitable than lower-grade clinical evidence, including cross-sectional retrospective study outcomes or expert opinion to underpin the ongoing debate on whether or not to replace some of the traditional open and with other forms of minimally invasive spinal decompression surgeries such as the endoscopic technique.

METHODS

A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2019 identified 89 eligible studies on lumbar endoscopic decompression surgery enrolling 23,290 patient samples using the ODI and VAS for back and leg pain used for the ES calculation.

RESULTS

There was an overall mean overall reduction of ODI of 46.25 (SD 6.10), VAS back decrease of 3.29 (SD 0.65), and VAS leg reduction of 5.77 (SD 0.66), respectively. Reference tables of familiar ODI, VAS back, and VAS leg show no significant impact of study design, follow-up, or patients' age on ES observed with these outcome instruments. There was no correlation of ES with long-term follow-up (P = 0.091). Spinal endoscopy produced an overall ODI ES of 0.92 extrapolated from 81 studies totaling 12,710 patient samples. Provided study comparisons to tubular retractor microdiscectomy and open laminectomy showed an ODI ES of 0.9 (2895 patients pooled from 16 studies) and 0.93 (1188 patients pooled from 5 studies). The corresponding VAS leg ES were 0.92 (12,631 endoscopy patients pooled from 81 studies), 0.92 (2348 microdiscectomy patients pooled from 15 studies), and 0.89 (1188 open laminectomy patients pooled from 5 studies).

CONCLUSION

Successful clinical outcomes can be achieved with various lumbar surgeries. ESs with endoscopic spinal surgery are on par with those found with open laminectomy and microsurgical decompression.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

This article is a meta-analysis on the benefit overlap between lumbar endoscopy, microsurgical decompression, laminectomy, and lumbar decompression fusion.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2

Comparison of Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Discectomy and Microscope-Assisted Tubular Discectomy for Lumbar Disc Herniation

Objective

The aim of the present study was to compare the clinical outcomes and quality of life following percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) and microscope‐assisted tubular discectomy (MTD) for lumbar disc herniation (LDH).

Methods

This study had a retrospective design. From June 2017 to June 2018, the clinical data of 120 patients with LDH treated with PTED (60 cases, PTED group) and MTD (60 cases, MTD group) were analyzed and followed up for at least 20 months. There were 59 men and 61 women. Patients were aged between 22 and 80 years. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, incision length, frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy, cost, hospital stay, types of herniated discs, complications, and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS), the Oswestry disability index (ODI), and the modified Macnab criteria. Short‐Form 36 (SF‐36) and the EQ‐5D‐5L were used to evaluate the quality of life of patients. The data between the two groups were compared by independent sample t‐tests. Multiple comparisons between samples were analyzed by analysis of variance.

Results

Compared with the MTD group, the PTED group had shorter incision length (9.20 ± 1.19 mm vs 26.38 ± 1.82 mm), less intraoperative blood loss (18.00 ± 4.97 mL vs 39.83 ± 6.51 mL), and shorter hospital stay (5.42 ± 5.08 days vs 10.58 ± 3.69 days) (P = 0.00). PTED was much more appropriate for foraminal and extraforaminal disc herniation. The incidence of paresthesia was lower in the PTED group (6.67% vs 16.67%). At each follow up, the VAS and ODI scores of all patients were significantly improved compared with those before surgery (P = 0.00). At 3 days postoperatively, the lumbar VAS score of the PTED group was significantly lower (1.58 ± 1.00 vs 2.37 ± 1.10, P = 0.00). The excellent rate of the PTED group reached 91.67%, and that of the MTD group reached 93.33%. Compared with the preoperative SF‐36 scores for physiological function, mental health, and social function, the postoperative scores were significantly improved in both groups (P = 0.00). The EQ‐5D‐5L in the PTED group increased from 0.30 ± 0.17 before the operation to 0.69 ± 0.13 after 6 months of follow up (P = 0.00) and 0.73 ± 0.14 after 20 months of follow up. The EQ‐5D‐5L in the MTD group increased from 0.28 ± 0.17 before the operation to 0.68 ± 0.13 after a 6‐month follow up (P = 0.00), and 0.73 ± 0.12 after a 20‐month follow up.

Conclusion

Although both PTED and MTD are effective for LDH, PTED is much more appropriate for various types of LDH and has the advantages of the low incidence of low back pain, fewer complications, and early recovery.