Outcome of endoscopic lumbar discectomy for the treatment of sciatica

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the outcome of endoscopic lumbar discectomy in patients having sciatica due to single level prolapsed disc. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted in neurosurgery departments of Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar from June 2017 to December 2019, after approval from the ethics com-mittee. All patients with straight leg raising (SLR) less than 60 degree, failed conservative treatment and with single level prolapsed disc were included while redo cases, cauda equine syndrome and traumatic disc prolapse associated with fractures were excluded. Per operative and post operative complications were documented. Patients were followed up for 3 months. Data was collected and analyzed with SPSS version 20. Results: One hundred and fifteen endoscopic lumbar discectomies were done. There were 75 (65.2%) male and 40 (34.8%) female patients. Age range was 17 to 63 years with mean age of 31.0±2.13 years. L5-S1 was involved in 67 (58.26%) cases, L4-5 in 42 (36.52%) cases and L3-4 in 6 (5.22%) cases. Procedure time ranged from 35 to 125 min with a mean of 62 minutes. Four cases were converted to open discectomies due to technical difficulties. Sciatica pain relief was achieved in 110 (95.65%) cases. Surgical site infection was observed in 2 (1.74%) cases. Conclusion: Endoscopic discectomy has acceptable rate of complications and good post-operative pain relief.