A novel visualized foraminoplasty technique in patients with lumbar disc herniation with lumbar foraminal stenosis

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To introduce a novel visualized foraminoplasty technique in patients with lumbar disc herniation with lumbar foraminal stenosis.METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients who had undergone surgery in our hospital for lumbar disc herniation with foraminal stenosis. We enrolled 35 patients who received the traditional TESSYS technique and 70 who received the new technique. We compared the foraminalplasty time, fluoroscopy times, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative dural and nerve root injuries, length of postoperative hospital stay, clinical outcome according with modified MacNab criteria, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)between the new technique group and the traditional TESSYS technique group.RESULTS: The intraoperative VAS score(1.84±0.96) and fluoroscopic times(13.30±3.79) in the new technique group were significantly lower than those in the traditional TESSYS group (intraoperative VAS score,3.60±1.09,P=0.000;fluoroscopic times,20.00±4.24,P=0.000).The foraminalplasty time in the TESSYS group(17.60±3.46) was significantly shorter than that in the new technique group (22.81±4.86)(P=0.000).There were no significant differences in length of hospital stay after surge, postoperative VAS score and postoperative ODI score between the two groups (P=0.835, P=0.779, P=0.350). In addition, the amount of blood loss during foraminoplasty could not be calculated due to the presence of continuous saline irrigation in the new technique group. In the conventional TESSYS technique group, there was 1 patient with exiting nerve root injury who developed significant leg pain after surgery.CONCLUTIONS: The novel visualized foraminoplasty technique is a safe and effective surgical method. Compared with traditional surgical methods, it has obvious advantages in reducing intraoperative pain and radiation exposure.