Breakage of the tip of the micropituitary forceps during spine surgery is a rare occurrence. Retrieval of the broken tip could be a challenge in minimally invasive surgeries due to limitation of access and retrieval instruments. We describe our experience in handling such a situation during percutaneous radiofrequency discectomy. The removal was attempted, without converting into open surgery, ...

The cadaver spine motion segment behavior under torsional load was evaluated with the disc intact, with partial anterior discectomy and with spacer insertion. The results of this study explain how anterior lumbar discectomy and interbody fusion (ALIF) affects the torsional stability of the motion segment. The pseudarthrosis rate of the anterior lumbar discectomy and interbody fusion (ALIF)...

Objective: The herniated lumbar disc (HLD) in young patients is increasing. The endoscopic discectomy has been used as a treatment option, but it is limited in the management of large extruded or migrated disc herniations. Recently, with an application of extreme lateral endoscopic lumbar discectomy (ELELD), it is possible to obtain access to epidural space directly and to remove herniated disc...

The procedure of posterior endoscopic discectomy (PED) is an attempt to allow for a standard familiar microsurgical discectomy to be performed using standard microsurgical techniques via a minimally invasive approach. The aim of this study was to evaluate our results with PED for lumbar disc herniation and to assess the advantages, disadvantages and clinical outcomes of the technique. Between F...

Introduction:  Since the introduction of lumbar microdiscectomy in the 1970's, many studies have attempted to compare the effectiveness of this method with that of standard open discectomy with conflicting results. This observational study is designed to compare the relative effectiveness of microdiscectomy (MD) with open discectomy (OD) for treating lumbar disc herniation, -within a large coho...

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...

BACKGROUND The number of interventions on intervertebral discs rapidly increased and the treatment options for lumbar disc surgery quickly evolved. It is important that the safety and efficacy of all new innovative procedures be compared with currently accepted forms of treatment; however, the previous pairwise meta-analyses could not develop the hierarchy of these treatments. OBJECTIVES The ...