Anterior endoscopic spine surgery. A new technique and early results

ABSTRACT

Endoscopic procedures have been widely used in general surgery for appendicectomy, cholecystectomy and hernia repairs. Video-assisted thoracic surgery is widely applied for pleural biopsy, lung resections and sympathectomy. From the beginning of the last decade endoscopic techniques started to be applied to spine surgery. Indications are increasing, instrumentations and techniques are rapidly refined. This study includes our early experience using these techniques. The study includes 6 cases of anterior spinal release for scoliosis, 2 cases of drainage of tuberculous thoracic cold abscesses, 2 cases of laparoscopic L[5]-S[1] fusion by bone grafts for non-specific discitis and 6 cases of complementary anterior fusion [4 cases for spondylolisthesis and 2 cases for post-laminectomy instability] by threaded cages. The techniques are briefly described; difficulties and complications and early results are discussed