Abstract
Minimally invasive technique are becoming more widespread in orthopedic field. A microendoscopic discectomy (MED) system developed in recent years enables us remove the lumbar disc herniation as accurately as when the standard open procedures is used.
Twenty-three patients were subjected to discectomy using the MED system. The patient population consisted of 17 men and 6 women aged 16 to 57 years (mean, 35.2 years). Herniation affected discs at L4-5 (15) and L5-S1 (9) levels. One patient had two herniated discs. Discectomy proved successful for 22 discs of 24 discs operated on. The average Japanese Orthopedic Association scores for low back pain improved from pre-operative 15.8 to post-operative 28.3, showing an average improvement rate of 94.9%, which was not significantly different from that obtained in 50 patients treated according to the modified Love's method. Our Results showed that the MED system was considered as a beneficial method in treatment of lumbar disc herniation.
