Early clinical results of channel-assisted combined fixation and interbody fusion for treating lumbar vertebra diseases by muscle-splitting approach / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the feasibility and effectiveness of channel-assisted spatium intermusculare approach interbody fusion for treating lumbar vertebra diseases.Methods A total of 81 patients with lumbar vertebra diseases were treated from June 2012 to December 2013,including 35 males and 46 females between 29 and 76 years old with an average age of 54.6.There were 36 cases of lumbar disc degeneration,10 cases of recurrence in situ after lumbar disc herniation surgery,6 cases of huge lumbar disc herniation,11 cases of lumbar disc herniation with spinal canal stenosis,5 cases of extreme lateral lumbar disc herniation and 13 cases of lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis.There were 67 cases of single segment lesion and 14 cases of two segment lesions.Lesion sites contained L1,2 in 1 case,L3,4 in 4 cases,L4,5 in 50 cases,L5S1 in 12 cases,L3,4 and L4,5 in 8 cases,and L4,5 and L5S1 in 6 cases.Results The length of incision was 2.42±0.45 cm in cases of single segment lesion and 4.28±0.38 cm in cases of two segment lesions.The operation time was 96.00±21.53 minutes and intraoperative blood loss was 347.50± 241.62 ml.During the operation,one case suffered from dural laceration,cerebrospinal fluid leakage and ipsilateral nerve root injury.Two cases suffered from pedicle fractures.Eight cases experienced epidermal necrosis of the incision.One case had poor wound healing.Three cases suffered from nerve injury.A total of 76 patients were followed up for 12-30 months,averagely 20.5 months.Intervertebral height of lesion segments was apparently recovered after surgery,and maintained in good condition during the final follow-up.No significant difference in the changes of area and grade of multifidus was detected 12 months after surgery and before surgery.Except 4 cases,the remaining had interbody fusion with a fusion rate of 94.7％.The balance between the coronal plane and sagittal plane of the lumbar spine was evidently improved.Average Japanese Orthopaedic Association score increased from 12.66±1.88 points preoperatively to 26.4±1.92 points during the final follow-up,which showed significant differences.Conclusion The method of channel-assisted spatium intermusculare approach interbody fusion has some advantages for treating lumbar vertebra such as small incision,fewer traumas,less bleeding,fast recovery,and high fusion rate.However,there is a long time of operation in the early stage and high occurrence rate of complications.