Preliminary results of lumbar disk herniation surgery by Endoscopic Destandau Method.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of Disc herniation is about 2-3% of population. Each year 300,000 procedures performed in USA. The aim of this paper is to describe the utility of endoscopic procedure in treatment of lumbar disc herniation. METHODS: We operated 359 patients from September 2013 to December 2016 for lumbar disk herniation by Endoscopic DESTANDAU method (EDM). The average length of surgery was 47 min. We operated 211 male and 148 female patients. In average, patients had pain for 4.3 months before surgery. RESULTS: 310 patients became pain free in six weeks and 332 after 3 months. We had 7 recurrent herniation. Among these patients 4 have been operated for the second time with success. Three patients refused to be operated. And had infiltration. We had 1 deep infection and 3 cutaneous infections. We have 7 two SCF fluid leak. Among them 3 needed second operation. CONCLUSIONS: The patients are admitted the day of surgery and are discharged the day after surgery. EDM is a good alternative surgery for lumbar disk herniation in comparison with classical surgery. The duration of hospitalization is shorter and recovery is faster.

Preliminary results of anterior cervical arthroplasty by porous alumina ceramic cage for cervical disc herniation surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Anterior cervical arthroplasty (ACA) is the gold standard surgery in severe or unresponsive cases of cervical disc herniation, uncarthrosis, and foraminal stenosis. The aim of this study is to establish the impact and outcome evaluations of managing the patients operated for cervical arthroplasty by the intersomatic porous alumina ceramic cervical cages (PACC). The authors describe their experience in the area to allow the comparison of effectiveness of ceramic cages versus other interbody fusion cages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between April 2015 and September 2018, we operated 118 for ACA by using PACC. Among them, 52 were female and 66 were male, with an average age of 46.78 years. RESULTS: The mean symptoms duration was 14.1 months. The most frequent level of the disorder was C5-C6 followed by C6-C7 level. Mean follow-up was 3.3 years. The Neck Disability Index (NDI) and the visual analog scale (VAS) were used to evaluate the patients status. No significant differences were observed between our results and literature data regarding operative time, duration of hospitalization, and NDI; however, we observed a shorter period and higher rate of bony fusion. CONCLUSION: The results from the present study corroborate that implementing of PACC is a good alternative treatment for the patient operated by ACA for cervical disc herniation or foraminal cervical stenosis.

Lumbar disk herniation: How far should efforts go to minimally invasive procedure?

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) of lumbar disk herniation allows avoiding less of a mess in crossing structures, reducing muscular and cutaneous scarring, postoperative pain, lengthy recovery times, and the rate of infection. The aim of this study is to explain our experience in MIS of disc herniation. We compare the outcome of three different surgical techniques used for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1147 patients have been operated from July 2008 to December 2015 for lumbar disk herniation by posterior endoscopic approach. Three hundred and seventy-nine patients underwent discectomy and herniectomy (DH), 557 patients have been operated by herniectomy (H), and 211 patients underwent only bone decompression (BD). RESULTS: The results show 80.10%, 82.06%, and 84.02% excellent outcome, respectively, in BD, DH, and BD techniques. CONCLUSION: Analysis of the data demonstrates that the results obtained are equivalent and comparable in different used techniques for the treatment of disc herniation, we do not need to perform discectomy in all cases in a systematic way.

Surgical treatment of bilateral nondisplaced isthmic lysis by interlaminar fixation device.

STUDY DESIGN: Spondylolysis is a defect in the portion of pars interarticularis. The latter affects approximately 6% of the population. It is caused by repetitive trauma in hyperextension. Low back pain is the most common symptom. METHODS: We implanted interspinous process devices in 12 patients with isthmic lysis without spondylolisthesis for low back pain. The purpose of the surgery was to conduct a minimally invasive procedure. RESULTS: In eight cases, patients became asymptomatic. In two cases, there has been a considerable improvement. In two cases, no change had been noted. CONCLUSION: This good result motivates us to consider this approach a part of therapeutic arsenal for some cases of spondylolysis.

Endoscopic Anatomy and Features of Anterior Cervical Foraminotomy by Destandau Technique.

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive spine surgery limits surgical trauma and avoids traditional open surgery so in the majority of cases, recovery is much quicker and patients have less pain after surgery. AIM: The authors describe an endoscopic approach to anterior cervical foraminotomy (ACF) by Destandau's method. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Anterior cervical foraminotomy by Destandau's method is carried out under general anaesthesia. A 3 cm transverse skin incision is used just slightly past the anterior border of the sternocleidomastoid's muscle laterally. After exposing and dissecting superficial cervical fascia, platysma muscle, and deep cervical fascia, Endospine material designed by Destandau will be inserted. As from this moment, the procedure will continue using endoscopy. RESULTS: the Endoscopic approach to anterior cervical foraminotomy by Destandau's method offers a convenient access to the cervical foraminal stenosis with fewer complications and negligible morbidity and gives maximum exposure to discal space with the goal of minimising cutaneous incision. CONCLUSION: Contrary to the other minimally invasive approaches, the visual field in foraminotomy by Destandau technique is broad and depending on the workability of Endospine an adequate access to cervical disc is possible.

Reliability of cervical radiculopathy, its congruence between patient history and medical imaging evidence of disc herniation and its role in surgical decision.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of cervical disc herniation is estimated about 5.5/100,000, and they lead to surgical intervention in 26 %. Cervical disc herniation causes radiculopathy, which defines by radicular pain and sensory deficit and maybe weakness following the path of the affected nerves. Classically, cervical radiculopathy is expected to follow its specific dermatome-C4, C5, C6, C7 and C8. We investigate patients who present with discrepancy between classical radiculopathy and imaging findings in the daily practice of our profession. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 102 patients with cervical radiculopathy, caused by cervical disc herniation. All patients had surgery. RESULTS: We found an apparent discrepancy between clinical and radiological findings, patients complained of radiculopathy on one side, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan or CT scan finding on the other side in ten patients (10.2 %). We did not found any other abnormalities in preoperative and post-operative period. All patients underwent cervical diskectomy via anterior approach. Six weeks after surgery eight patients (80 %) recovered completely, and 3 months after all ten patients (100 %) had been relieved totally. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD: The aim of this paper is review of this medical concept and management of radiculopathy in patients with this discrepancy. As far as we know, the subject has not yet been touched in this light in medical literature. CONCLUSION: The discrepancy between clinical radiculopathy and disc herniation level on MRI or on CT scan is not rare. Management of this discrepancy requires further investigation to avoid missing diagnosis and treatment failure.

Comparison of Direct Side-to-End and End-to-End Hypoglossal-Facial Anastomosis for Facial Nerve Repair.

BACKGROUND: The hypoglossal facial anastomosis (HFA) is the gold standard for facial reanimation in patients with severe facial nerve palsy. The major drawbacks of the classic HFA technique are lingual morbidities due to hypoglossal nerve transection. The side-to-end HFA is a modification of the classic technique with fewer tongue-related morbidities. OBJECTIVES: In this study we compared the outcome of the classic end-to-end and the direct side-to-end HFA surgeries performed at our center in regards to the facial reanimation success rate and tongue-related morbidities. METHODS: Twenty-six successive cases of HFA were enrolled. In 9 of them end-to-end anastomoses were performed, and 17 had direct side-to-end anastomoses. The House-Brackmann (HB) and Pitty and Tator (PT) scales were used to document surgical outcome. The hemiglossal atrophy, swallowing, and hypoglossal nerve function were assessed at follow-up. RESULTS: The original pathology was vestibular schwannoma in 15, meningioma in 4, brain stem glioma in 4, and other pathologies in 3. The mean interval between facial palsy and HFA was 18 months (range: 0-60). The median follow-up period was 20 months. The PT grade at follow-up was worse in patients with a longer interval from facial palsy and HFA (P value: 0.041). The lesion type was the only other factor that affected PT grade (the best results in vestibular schwannoma and the worst in the other pathologies group, P value: 0.038). The recovery period for facial tonicity was longer in patients with radiation therapy before HFA (13.5 vs. 8.5 months) and those with a longer than 2-year interval from facial palsy to HFA (13.5 vs. 8.5 months). Although no significant difference between the side-to-end and the end-to-end groups was seen in terms of facial nerve functional recovery, patients from the side-to-end group had a significantly lower rate of lingual morbidities (tongue hemiatrophy: 100% vs. 5.8%, swallowing difficulty: 55% vs. 11.7%, speech disorder 33% vs. 0%). CONCLUSION: With the side-to-end HFA technique the functional restoration outcome is at least as good as that following the classic end-to-end HFA, but the complications related to the complete hypoglossal nerve transection can be avoided. Best results are achieved if this procedure is performed within the first 2 years after facial nerve injury. Patients with facial palsy of longer duration also have the chance for good functional restoration after HFA.