ABSTRACT
Objective How to improve the operational safety of foraminoplasty has become a hot spot in present clinical research. This study was to observe the clinical effect of minimally invasive treatment of lumbar disc herniation by percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) combined with dynamically assisted visualized intervertebral foraminoplasty (VIVF).Methods Totally, 61 patients with lumbar disc herniation underwent PTED combined with dynamically assisted VIVF in Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine from January to November 2017. We evaluated the clinical effects using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and modified Macnab Criteria.Results The VAS scores of the patients were significantly lower at 3 days, 3 months and 6 months after surgery than the baseline (1.10±0.60, 1.03±0.26 and 1.07±0.31 vs 7.64±1.11, P<0.05), and so were the ODIs (2.10±0.54, 1.30±0.49 and 1.23±0.46 vs 34.46±3.57, P<0.05). The excellence rate of treatment 96.72% (59/61). None of the patients experienced such postoperative complications as nerve root injury, spinal injury, and dural matter, and no recurrence was observed.Conclusion PTED combined with dynamically assisted VIVF is safe and effective for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation.