Objectives: To evaluate the demographic characteristics, surgical safety in addition to highlighting major complications in 1525 consecutive patients who underwent microscopic inter-laminar discectomy electively at King Hussein Medical Center. Methods: A series of 1525 consecutive patients underwent elective inter-laminar lumbar discectomy, during a 5year period (January 2009 to January 2014) i...

AIM To determine the efficacy, safety, and clinical value of a novel surgical procedure involving the blunt perforation of the ligamentum flavum (LF) during endoscopic interlaminar lumbar discectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a prospective study of 50 patients (27 males, 17-51 years of age) undergoing lumbar discectomy for single segment L4/L5 or L5/S1 disk herniation were grouped into th...

We performed a prospective study to examine the influence of the patient's position on the location of the abdominal organs, to investigate the possibility of a true lateral approach for transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy. Pre-operative abdominal CT scans were taken in 20 patients who underwent endoscopic lumbar discectomy. Axial images in parallel planes of each intervertebral disc fr...

BACKGROUND Microendoscopic discectomy (MED) is less invasive than conventional open discectomy, but the long-term benefits of this technique are still debated. Controversy also remains regarding the surgical indications, patient selection, effectiveness, learning curve and complications. METHODS From Dec 2001 to Dec 2003, 26 patients with lumbar herniated disc disease received MED. The surgic...

OBJECTIVE The microendoscopic discectomy (MED) technique was initially developed in 1997 to treat herniated lumbar disc disease. Since then, thousands of cases have been successfully performed at more than 500 institutions. This article discusses the technical aspects of this procedure and presents a consecutive case series. METHODS A total of 150 consecutive patients underwent MED. MED is pe...

Foraminal or extraforaminal Far Lateral Disc Herniations (FLDH) extending into or beyond the foraminal zone have been recognized as between 7-12% of all lumbosacral disc herniations. Conventional posterior laminectomy may not provide good access to a herniation that lies far lateral to the lateral margin of the pedicle. Use of the endoscopic technique through a percutaneous approach to treat su...

BACKGROUND Lumbar microdiscectomy is the most commonly performed spinal surgery procedure, with over 300,000 cases performed annually in the United States alone. Traditionally, patients were advised to restrict post-operative activity as this was believed to reduce the risk of disc reherniation and progressive instability. However, this practice would often delay patients return to work. In con...

BACKGROUND There is a controversy regarding the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. Most of patients with lumbar disc herniation and radiculopathy improve with rest and medicine. Lumbar disc surgery gives rapid relief to the patients with severe root pain in legs. This study was conducted to see the risks and benefits of surgery in single level symptomatic lumbar disc disease. METHODS This p...

OBJECTIVE Recurrent lumbar disc herniation has been defined as disc herniation at the same level, regardless of ipsilateral or contralateral herniation, with a pain-free interval greater than 6 months. The aim of this study is to analyze outcomes and identify the potential risk factors for recurrent lumbar disc herniation. METHODS The authors retrospectively reviewed the cases of 178 patients...

BACKGROUND Back pain is one of the most prevalent health problems for which physicians are consulted. Back pain has many economic impacts, such as sickness absences and long-term disability. The prevalence of major depression in patients with chronic low back pain is approximately 3 to 4 times greater than the prevalence rate reported in the general population. OBJECTIVES This study was desig...