Treatment of lateral recess stenosis by means of microendoscopic decompressive laminotomy results at one year

Abstract

Purpose To determine the efficacy of microendoscopic root decompression in lumbar lateral recess stenosis. Materials and methods Prospective longitudinal study of 60 patients diagnosed with lumbar canal stenosis and subjected to microendoscopic decompression by means of a METRx 18 mm tubular retractor following the METRx (Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Memphis, TN, U.S.A.) technique. Results were evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain measurement, the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), subjective patient satisfaction and McNab's modified score. Results Mean age was 54.5±10 years. Thirty-four patients (56.7%) were male and 26 (43.3%) female. The most frequently affected level was L5 (63.33%). Mean OR time was 85.17±18 minutes. Mean postoperative length of hospital stay was 4±1.2 days. Patient follow-up was 12 months. We obtained 66.6% good or excellent results with 68.3% of patients claiming to be satisfied with their outcome. Mean decrease on ODI at one year, as compared with the preoperative ODI score, was 34.3±26.2 points. Decrease on the VAS score was 6.2±2.6 points for the lower limbs and 1.6±1.8 points for the lumbar spine. All these magnitudes were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions The data collected from the study indicate that microendoscopic decompressive laminotomy is a safe and effective technique for treating lumbar lateral recess stenosis, which should feature prominently among the surgeon's procedures of choice for minimally invasive spine surgery.