Study on percutaneous laser disc decompression in the treatment of multisegmental lumbar disc herniation

Abstract

Objective To investigate the efficacy and strategy of percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) for patients with multisegmental lumbar disc herniation. Methods Between December 2005 and December 2008,a total of 56 patients with multisegmental lumbar disc herniation underwent PLDD. Under local anesthesia, the operation was performed using Nd:YAG laser. A digital subtraction angiography (DSA) system was employed to guide the surgery,insert burning, each 1 s, pulse intermission gasification 1 s, single segment laser total 400-800 J. In preoperative and postoperative 3 months visual analogue scale(VAS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores of times during followed up,Macnab standard to assess the clinical curative effect. Results The patients were followed up for 6 - 36 months (mean 18 months). The ODI improved from (31.10 ±2.92) scores to (11.80 ±2.62) scores (t=3.067,P ＜0.01 ). The VAS also showed postoperative improvement of pain compared with preoperative findings (7.00 ± 1.41 ) scores vs (3.00 ± 0.81 ) scores (t= 2.802,P ＜0.01 ). According to the Macnab standard, 36 patients achieved excellent outcomes, 10 were good, 8 were fair, and 2 were poor. The rate of excellent and good outoomes was 82. 1% (46/56). No patient had postoperative complications. Conclusions PLDD is effective and safe for patients with multisegmental lumbar disc berniation. The cases recover quickly after the operation, because the procedure is minimally invasive. Key words: Intervertebral disc displacement; Lasers; Decompression,surgical