We treated 137 patients with symptomatic lumbar disc prolapse by automated
Open discectomy (OD) is the standard operation for lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD), however, has shown similar outcomes to OD and there is increasing interest in this procedure. However despite improved surgical techniques and instrumentation, reoperation and infection rates continue and are reported to be between 6% and 24% and 0.7% and 16%, respectively. The objective of this study was to compare the rate of reoperation and infection within six months of patients being treated for LDH either by OD or PELD. In this retrospective, nationwide cohort study, the Korean National Health Insurance database from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2018 was reviewed. Data were extracted for patients who underwent OD or PELD for LDH without a history of having undergone either procedure during the preceding year. Individual patients were followed for six months through their encrypted unique resident registration number. The primary endpoints were rates of reoperation and infection during the follow-up period. Other risk factors for reoperation and infection were also evalulated.Aims
Methods
We carried out a study to determine the effect of facet tropism on the development of adolescent and adult herniation of the lumbar disc. We assessed 149 levels in 140 adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years and 119 levels in 111 adults aged between 40 and 49 years with herniation. The facet tropism of each patient was measured at the level of the herniated disc by CT. There was no significant difference in facet tropism between the herniated and the normal discs in both the adolescent and adult groups, except at the L4-L5 level in the adults. Facet tropism did not influence the development of herniation of the lumbar disc in either adolescents or adults.
There are few reports on the treatment of pyogenic lumbar spondylodiscitis through the posterior approach using a single incision. Between October 1999 and March 2003 we operated on 18 patients with pyogenic lumbar spondylodiscitis. All underwent posterior lumbar interbody fusion using an autogenous bone graft from the iliac crest and pedicle screws via a posterior approach. The clinical outcome was assessed using the Frankel neurological classification and the criteria of Kirkaldy-Willis. Under the Frankel classification, two patients improved by two grades (C to E), 11 by one grade, and five showed no change. The Kirkaldy-Willis functional outcome was excellent in five patients, good in ten and fair in three. Bony union was confirmed six months after surgery in 17 patients, but in one patient this was not achieved until two years after operation. The mean lordotic angle before operation was 20° (−2° to 42°) and the mean lordotic angle at the final follow-up was 32.5° (17° to 44°). Two patients had a superficial wound infection and two a transient root injury. Posterior lumbar interbody fusion with an autogenous iliac crest bone graft and pedicle screw fixation via a posterior approach can provide satisfactory results in pyogenic spondylodiscitis.
