Treatment of Thoracic Ossification of Posterior Longitudinal Ligament with One-Stage 360 Degree Circumferential Decompression Assisted by Piezosurgery

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of One-Stage 360 degree circular decompression for thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (TOPLL) assisted by piezosurgery. Materials and methods The present study enrolled 36 patients with TOPLL between August 2016 and February 2019. The average intraoperative bleeding volume of all 36 patients in this study is 1058.61 ±737.66 ml. Results All patients did not experience any intraoperative complications such as spinal cord and nerve injuries, and 22 other complications related to decompression of OPLL cited in other literature; all of which were relieved after treatment. The resection time of single laminectomy was 3.43 ±0.49 min, and circular decompression was 42.06 ±14.22 min. At the last follow-up, the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score was 8.89 ±1.56, the recovery rate of spinal cord function was 64.2 ±21.2%, and the number of cases of spinal cord function deterioration was 0 (0%). The mJOA score of the last follow-up was negatively correlated with the time of circular decompression (r = 0.368, p ＜ 0.01) and age (r = 0.412, p = 0.026). The recovery rate of the spinal cord function was negatively correlated with the operation time of circular decompression (r = -0.325, p = 0.041) and the amount of intraoperative blood loss (r = -0.555, p = 0.028). Conclusions The use of piezosurgery can safely and effectively complete one-stage simple posterior TOPLL with 360-degree circular decompression. The incidence of complications is not high, and a good outcome can be obtained.