COMPARISON OF OUTCOMES OF ENDOSCOPIC MICRODISCECTOMY VERSUS CONVENTIONAL DISCECTOMY FOR LUMBER DISC DISEASES

Introduction: Chronic lumbosacral pain is a communal and difficult clinical condition at the center of pain management. The most common surgical indication is back pain or intractable and severe functional impairment that does not respond to conservative measures. In this study we have compared the results of endoscopic d microdiscectomy and conventional discectomy procedure.

Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted at Allied Hospital, Faisalabad for duration of one year from September 2019 to August, 2020.

Material and Methods: We included 54 patients with severe lower back pain who did not improve after long-term conservative treatment and who had level 3 disc prolapse, radiating to one or both lower limbs. Oswestry Disability Index (For Low Back Pain) was documented with questionnaire comeback and applied as a clinical tool for valuation.

Results: The average age of the 54 patients was 46 years and 75% of patients have paracentral disc protrusion. The mean endoscopic microdiscectomy surgery time was 110 minutes; was longer than conventional discectomy (82 minutes). However, blood loss was very small compared to conventional discectomy. According to the ODI result, both conventional and endoscopic discectomy gave same outcomes in all classes.

Conclusion: Endoscopic microdiscectomy is a new, effective and safe procedure that reduces the invasiveness of the surgical approach. The results obtained by this approach are comparable with those obtained with open discectomy to alleviate symptoms during prolonged observation, and because the tissue has minimal trauma, it is much better in early mobilization and morbidity.

Keywords: spine, orthopedics, endoscopic discectomy, lumbar disc prolapse, disc degenerative disease.