Annales chirurgiae et gynaecologiae. Supplementum
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Ann Chir Gynaecol Suppl · Jan 1994
Review Comparative StudyMicroinvasive lumbar disc surgery. A study on patients treated with microdiscectomy or percutaneous nucleotomy for disc herniation.
During the last two decades, new microinvasive techniques have been introduced into the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. The potential benefits of microinvasive disc surgery are the reduced surgical trauma to the tissue, increased safety due to good visualization of the operation field under the microscope and, consequently, reduced postoperative morbidity and shorter hospitalization in comparison to conventional surgery. In this study, we evaluated the use of microdiscectomy and percutaneous nucleotomy in the treatment of patients with lumbar disc herniation. ⋯ During follow-up for 6 months, the mass effect resolved completely in 10 of these patients but in 15 patients, MRI subsequently revealed either a disc prolapse or a protrusion. In addition, a protrusion was detected in 7 patients with no postoperative mass effect. There was, however, no association between these MRI findings and the clinical outcome of the patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)