Abstract
In the present study, we investigated the surgical outcomes of 21 elderly patients aged ≥75 years among 79 patients (men, n=50; women, n=29; mean age, 67.6 years) who underwent microendoscopic laminectomy for lumbar spinal stenosis between March 2007 and April 2008.
Subjects comprised 10 men and 11 women with a mean age of 79.1 years (range, 75-92 years) who presented with stenosis between one or two intervertebral levels. Decompressions were performed at intervertebral levels L3-4 (n=1), L4-5 (n=14), L3-4 and L4-5 (n=4), L4-5 and L5-S1 (n=1), and L4-5 with decompression of L5 spondylolysis (n=1).
Postoperative therapy comprised standing and walking initiated the day after surgery.
Length of surgery, blood loss, intra and postoperative complications, presence or absence of significant anamnesis, and improvement rates for JOA score were investigated.
The results showed that the mean length of surgery was 115 minutes per one intervertebral level. Mean blood loss was 51 g and no intra or immediate postoperative complications, including deliria, were observed. One patient developed pneumonia during the postoperative course. Anamnesis included hypertension (n=13), heart disease including angina pectoris or valvular disease (n=7) and previous cancer surgery (n=3). Mean JOA score improved from 13.3 points preoperatively to 23.5 points postoperatively; the mean improvement rate was 63.3%.
Although length of surgery is an issue, microendoscopic laminectomy is believed to be a useful method for treating lumbar spinal stenosis in elderly patients as blood loss is low and it is effective with regard to postoperative therapy.
