Reasons for reoperation for lumbar disc herniation

Surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation is effective and has now become a consensus between doctors and patients. However, due to inaccurate localization, incomplete resection, scar tissue proliferation, nerve root adhesion, etc., the efficacy of some postoperative patients is unsatisfactory, and it is not uncommon that clinical symptoms cannot be relieved or recur again, and reoperation is required, and the reoperation rate of 2% to 9.2% has been reported. Reasons for reoperation: (1) Rarely, the reason is mislocation of positioning, such as the patient has sacral lumbarization, lumbar sacralization and other variants, the initial surgery to do the wrong gap, resulting in the failure to alleviate the symptoms after surgery, had to be reopened. (2) Nerve root adhesion, poor drainage or failure to place drainage in the initial surgery, local hematoma formation after surgery, eventually leading to scar formation, or inadequate expansion of the lateral saphenous fossa, scar tissue proliferation causing medically derived lateral saphenous fossa stenosis, nerve root adhesion, resulting in recurrence. (3) The most common reasons are insufficient surgical removal, inadequate decompression, and residual nucleus pulposus. During surgery, the patient is satisfied with the removal of the obvious protruding material, and does not pay enough attention to the removal of the nucleus pulposus remaining in the intervertebral space and the ruptured fibrous annulus cartilaginous plate tissue, so that the short-term effect is good after surgery, and as the intervertebral space becomes narrower after the surgery, the residual material protrudes again, resulting in recurrence. Alternatively, if the first time is a multi-block prolapse, the prolapsed nucleus pulposus can not be completely removed during surgery, resulting in poor postoperative results. Preventive measures: (1) Detailed physical examination should be conducted before surgery to determine the segment of lumbar disc herniation according to the site of sensory loss and pain, especially the necessary auxiliary examinations before surgery, such as lumbar spine front and side films, CT, and myelography/MRI, which are the basis for deciding the surgical site and surgical method. (2) Accurate localization is the basis for successful surgery. Routinely, after exposing the intervertebral plate space intraoperatively, the C-arm X-ray machine is used for fluoroscopic localization before the opening of the vertebral plate, and the hooked end of the nerve stripping sub-band is placed in the upper and lower intervertebral plate space ready to be opened, and the lateral position is fluoroscopically viewed on the C-arm X-ray machine and compared with the plain film, i.e., it can be seen at a glance, which is slightly cumbersome but with a definite effect. (3) find the protruding object during the operation, after the fiber ring is cut, at this time, the use of medullary forceps is very critical, such as hasty clamping protruding object, protruding object removed, the nerve root relaxation after the end of the clamping, it is likely to cause the leakage. Correct use of the nucleus pulposus forceps should be used to explore the intervertebral space in all directions, operate gently, avoid pushing the protrusion away or to the opposite side, and the interspace of the nucleus pulposus tissue, ruptured annulus fibrosus, and cartilage plate are clamped out; after clamping the protrusion, the protrusion must be analyzed in terms of “quality” and “quantity”. After clamping the protrusion, it is necessary to analyze the “quality” and “quantity” of the protrusion. If the protrusion is small, it is not possible to end the clamping easily, and the pediatric catheter can be used to probe up and down along the dura mater from the gap, so as to avoid missing the dislodged nucleus pulposus. (4) No matter how thorough the hemostasis is during surgery, postoperative oozing of blood from the trauma is unavoidable. Routine placement of a wound drain for 48 hours can minimize hematoma and reduce scar formation, and avoid adhesion of the nerve root. Postoperative scar formation in the lateral saphenous fossa can result in narrowing of the lateral saphenous fossa, leading to nerve root compression and recurrence of symptoms, and routine intraoperative enlargement of the lateral saphenous fossa can prevent recurrence. Reoperation method: Reoperation is more difficult than the initial surgery, but the surgical method does not necessarily have to be a total laminectomy or hemilaminectomy, the operation must be on the basis of the original window, carefully determine the lower and outer edge of the original cutting edge of the plate marking, downward and upward enlargement of the resection of the vertebral plate, partially resected the medial aspect of the articular eminence, and moderately enlarged the upper and lower residual vertebral plate to expand the window, generally, the nerve root can be found in the site of the laminectomy. Roots. Starting from the anatomically clear part, slowly separate and remove the scar tissue, and then the dura is very easy to rupture, after finding the protruding material, we must carefully separate its adhesion with the dura, and slowly take it out; for the cases that are difficult to reveal, half laminectomy is used, and the approach is made from the top to the bottom or to the next normal intervertebral space, and gradually reveals the normal place to the diseased space, which is safer, and it does not have much effect on the stability of lumbar vertebrae; When total laminectomy is performed, posterior internal fixation and intervertebral autologous bone graft should be used to maintain the stability of the lumbar spine.