Spinal canal decompression of giant calcified herniated thoracic discs / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objeetive To assess the study outcomes in a consecutive series of patients with thoracic disc herniation (TDH) who undergone posterior spinal canal decompression and discectomy with segmental instrumentation and fusion.Methods Between January 2005 and June 2012,the data of 17 patients (11 males and 6 females) was retrospectively reviewed and analyzed.Disc herniation was classified as central in 10 cases and paracentral in 7 cases.The average canal encroachment was 71.7％±9.6％ (range,52％ to 90％).Their mean age at surgery was 55.7 years (range,21 to 81 years).All patients underwent a transfacet decompression and segmental instrumentation with interbody fusion.The data of patients included clinical presentation,blood loss,operative time,complications,visual analogue scale (VAS),Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score,and Frankel grading system.Results The average follow-up period was 37±12 months.The average surgical time was 120±63 min.The mean blood loss was 471±198 ml.Mean preoperative VAS score was 8.01±0.21,which improved to a mean of 1.12±0.07 at final follow-up.Average pre-and post-operative at 12 months JOA scores were 3.17±0.83 and 8.78±0.94 points,respectively.The average recovery rate was 65.1％±23.4％.Overall JOA scores showed a significant postoperative improvement.All patients reported 1 or 2 grade improvement in Frankel grading compared with preoperative status except for 1 patient whose grade had not changed.There were three complications,including one patient developing postoperative wound infection,one experiencing a cerebrospinal fluid leakage,one developing further neurological deterioration.Conclusion The results suggested that the posterior approach using special shaped osteotomy is feasible for central calcified TDH.No major complications occurred for achieving adequate decompression for central calcified TDH.