RESUMO
【Objective】 To explore the surgical characteristics and clinical efficacy of percutaneous endoscopic visualization trephine for thoracic spinal stenosis. 【Methods】 We made a retrospective analysis of 37 patients with single-segment thoracic spinal stenosis treated with percutaneous endoscopic visualization trephine from January 2019 to June 2020. Among them， there were 14 males and 23 females； their age ranged from 31 to 82 years old， with an average of （57.6±11.8） years old. Their posture， length of hospital stay， length of operation and blood loss were recorded. The visual analogue scale （VAS）， Oswestry disability index （ODI） and the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association （JOA） score were used to evaluate the preoperative and final conditions of patients and calculate the improvement rate. 【Results】 The operation was successfully completed in all the patients， and no patients developed epidural hematoma， incision infection or postoperative paralysis. Among the 37 patients， 24 ones with ossification of ligamentum flavum （OLF） were in the prone position， and 13 patients had lateral surgery. Among them， thoracic disc herniation （TDH） occurred in 3 cases， OPLL in 5 cases and OLF+OPLL in 5 cases. The hospital stay was （7.2±1.6） days， the operation time was （96.5±20.0） min， and the blood loss was （41.9±10.8） mL. VAS score decreased from （7.0±0.9） to （1.9±0.8）； ODI improved from （41.7±2.1） to （16.1±1.7）； and JOA score increased from （5.8±1.4） to （8.6±1.4）. The preoperative and postoperative differences were statistically significant （P<0.05）. 【Conclusion】 Percutaneous endoscopic visualization of thoracic spinal stenosis is treated by choosing different positions according to the type of compression. The spinal canal is fully decompressed. The surgical method is safe and minimally invasive， and the postoperative effect is satisfactory.