• Sang-Soak Ahn, Sang-Hyeon Kim, and Dong-Won Kim.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Spine and Spinal Cord Institute, Gangnam Severance Spine Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• J Korean Neurosurg S. 2015 Dec 1; 58 (6): 539-46.

ObjectiveTo report the learning curve of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) for a surgeon who had not been previously exposed to this procedure based on the period and detailed technique with a retrospective matched comparative design.MethodsOf 213 patients with lumbar disc herniation encountered during the reference period, 35 patients who were followed up for 1 year after PELD were enrolled in this study. The patients were categorized by the period and technique of operation : group A, the first 15 cases, who underwent by the 'in-and-out' technique; group B, the next 20 cases, who underwent by the 'in-and-out-and-in' technique. The operation time, failure rate, blood loss, complication rate, re-herniation rate, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for back and leg were checked. The alteration of dural sac cross-sectional area (DSCSA) between the preoperative and the postoperative MRI was checked.ResultsOperative time was rapidly reduced in the early phase, and then tapered to a steady state for the 35 cases receiving the PELD. After surgery, VAS scores for the back and leg were decreased significantly in both groups. Complications occurred in 2 patients in group A and 2 patients in group B. Between the two groups, there were significant differences in operative time, improvement of leg VAS, and expansion of DSCSA.ConclusionPELD learning curve seems to be acceptable with sufficient preparation. However, because of their high tendency to delayed operation time, operation failure, and re-herniation, caution should be exercised at the early phase of the procedure.

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