Comparison of mid-term effects between microendoscopic discectomy and microsurgical lumbar discectomy for operatively treating lumbar disc herniation / 重庆医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the mid‐term efficacy of microendoscopic discectomy (MED) and microsurgical lumbar discectomy (MSLD) for treating lumbar disc herniation (LDH) .Methods 98 patients with single segment LDH in the Orthopedic department of the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University from March 2009 to April 2010 were divided into 2 groups ,including 44 cases undergoing MED and 54 cases undergoing MSLD .The operative efficacies were assessed by the visual analogue scale (VAS) , Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) .Results There were statistically significant differences in the skin incision length ,amount of intraoperative blood loss and time of returning to work between the two groups (P0 .05) .The mean follow‐up duration was 49 .13 months in the MED group and 47 .24 months in the MSLD group respectively .At the last follow‐up the postoperative back and leg pain VAS scores ,JOA scores and ODI in each group were signifi‐cantly improved compared with the preoperative data (P<0 .01) .However ,there were no statistically significant differences in the intergroup comparison .Conclusion MED and MSLD are the effective methods for treating single segment LDH .However ,MED has less trauma and early out‐of‐bed ambulation ,is an ideal minimally invasive surgery .