Abstract: A retrospective study including 50 cases of lumbar canal stenosis patients who underwent percutaneous endoscopic stenosis decompression surgery through unilateral/bilateral transforaminal approach under local anaesthesia. Clinical outcomes such as back and leg VAS, the Macnab criteria were evaluated. Surgical results including operative time, postoperative hospital stay, recurrence, and surgical complications were also studied.
Results: All 50 patients were followed up. The average operation time was 73 +/- 22.8min. The mean VAS of leg and back pain improved from 7.06 +/-1 to 2.2 +/-1. According to the Macnab criteria, 97.7% of patients achieved excellent and good results. There was 1 case of dural tear and 3 cases of transient postoperative dysthesia.
Conclusions: Except for the main pathogenic factors on the dorsal side of the dural sac namely bony canal stenosis, percutaneous endoscopic decompression through a unilateral/bilateral transforaminal approach is sufficient for Lumbar canal stenosis and affords better foraminal decompression than an open approach. It is a feasible, safe, and clinically effective minimally invasive procedure.
