INTRODUCTION

With the common laminotomy/discectomy, including the typical so-called "minimally invasive" techniques, bone and ligamentum flavum need to be removed in order to access the spinal canal and the pathology. Depending on the size and location of the extruded fragment/s, the amount of bone removal ranges from a conservative laminotomy to a wider laminectomy with or without hemi-facetectomy. In either case, once the normal anatomy has been altered the possibility of failed back surgical syndrome increases dramatically. We use a non-traumatic access, small tubular system and a working-channel scope which allows excellent visualization. There is no cutting through the muscle fibers and the ligamentum flavum or need for bone removal to gain access to the spinal canal. The access is achieved through a posterior interlaminar, or a purely transforaminal approach.

Aims/Objectives

To determine if this method can achieve better success rates and avoid potentially deleterious long term ill effects.

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis from 2009 up to date of 126 patients; 97 males (77%) and 29 females (23%), 16 to 76 years of age. They were all single level cases. The non-traumatic approaches were as follows: 57 (45%) posterior approach through the ligamentum flavum; 65 (52%) transforaminal approach and 4 (3%) a combination of both approaches. The results are reported utilizing the MacNAb criteria. The average follow up was 6 weeks.

Results

Statistical analysis showed the following results: Excellent: 77.8% (n=98), Good: 19.8% (n=25), and Poor: 2.4% (n=3). The overall success rate was 97.6%. No complications were reported.

Conclusions