Posterior Endoscope-Assisted Diskectomy Is an Effective Technique for Cervical Soft Disk Herniation

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinicoradiologic conditions of patients with a herniated cervical disk who were treated with percutaneous endoscope-assisted cervical diskectomy. Materials and Methods The medical data of 27 patients (16 men and 11 women; mean age: 40.9 years) who were operated on with the posterior endoscope-assisted cervical diskectomy method were reviewed retrospectively. The mean follow-up was 35.1 months, and the patients were assessed with combined preoperative and postoperative visual analog scale (VAS), Prolo Functional Economic Outcome Rating scale, MacNab scale, and clinical imaging. Results The mean preoperative VAS level was 8.6 (range: 7–10), and mean Prolo score was 2.5 (range: 2–5). A postoperative assessment performed 1 week postsurgery found a mean VAS level of 2.1 (range: 0–4). At the final examination, the mean VAS level was 0.81 (range: 0–3), and the mean Prolo score was 4.5 (range: 3–5). The final MacNab scale scores were 62.9%, excellent; 25.9%, good; 7.4%, moderate; and 3.7%, poor. Conclusion Percutaneous endoscope-assisted cervical diskectomy is a suitable and effective treatment method for soft cervical disk herniation.