Can minimally invasive surgery treat lumbar disc herniation?

Although the traditional method of open surgery for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation has a very obvious clinical effect, however, with the overall quality of the people and the continuous improvement of living standards, the disadvantages brought by open surgery to the patients are no longer accepted, therefore, minimally invasive treatments that are less traumatizing, quicker recovering, less painful, more effective, less costly, safe and reliable have come into being. However, the traditional minimally invasive treatment methods, including collagenase dissolution, percutaneous cutting and suction, laser vaporization (PLDD), low-temperature plasma ablation, radiofrequency ablation, ozone target injection and other minimally invasive ablation procedures, are all indirect decompression of discs, and have the disadvantages of failing to completely remove the nucleus pulposus of the lesion, especially the tissues compressing the nerves, and being unable to repair the broken fibrous ring, or carry out the loosening of compressed nerves, with the necrotic tissues relying on the body to naturally absorb. The defects of the treatment have led to poor results, which have been questioned by everyone and gradually abandoned. The application of posterior intervertebral discoscopy (MED) can remove the herniated disc tissue under direct vision, and the effect is reliable if no complication occurs. However, because the surgical access and treatment process are consistent with small incision open surgery, all of them have to implement the vertebral plate opening window, peel off the muscles and ligaments, interfering with the spinal canal, and pulling nerves; they are prone to cause intraoperative bleeding, interfering with the field of view and increasing the risk; and the postoperative scar tissues are prone to cause adhesion of the vertebral canal and the nerves; It cannot be applied to the treatment of extreme lateral herniation and discogenic pain; it has narrow indications and has not been popularized, and its effectiveness has been questioned because of the many complications. Due to the above reasons, some people doubt “can minimally invasive surgery treat lumbar disc herniation? Especially for patients with spinal stenosis”. The introduction of the fourth generation of minimally invasive technology, intervertebral endoscopy, has solved the problem that the minimally invasive technology mentioned above could not solve. Percutaneous intervertebral endoscopy-assisted lumbar discectomy is developed on the basis of percutaneous automatic disc excision and suction. Under local anesthesia, a percutaneous puncture is performed in the lateral and posterior lumbar spine, and a 7.5mm diameter surgical working channel is inserted directly into the intervertebral disc or spinal canal through the intervertebral foraminal approach, and the protruding or prolapsed disc pressurizing materials and nerves can be taken out and released directly under the direct vision of the endoscope. Since the operation is performed under local anesthesia, the important bone and joint ligament structures of the lumbar spine are not destroyed during the operation. It has no effect on the stability of lumbar spine, does not need to pull the nerve root and dural sac, has no obvious harassment to the nerve tissues in the spinal canal, does not lead to obvious bleeding and adhesion in the spinal canal, and has the advantages of small surgical trauma, good effect, short postoperative bed rest, low surgical cost and faster recovery, etc., which has been widely accepted and popularized. Currently, the two most commonly used surgical procedures are the YESS technique of indirect disc decompression via the Kambin safety triangle into the intervertebral disc introduced by Yeung et al. and the TESSYS technique of direct nerve root release and decompression via the foramen ovale into the spinal canal, which was designed by Hoogland et al. Not only can they treat general types of lumbar disc herniation, but they also have greater advantages than traditional open surgery in the treatment of special types of lumbar disc herniation (including juvenile, senile, recurrent, extreme lateral, ruptured, and combined with spinal stenosis, etc.), so minimally invasive intervertebral foramenoscopy is an effective treatment for lumbar disc herniation and the indications will continue to be expanded as surgical skills improve and the improvement of the microscopic operating instrumentation is realized. Therefore, minimally invasive intervertebral foraminoscopy is an effective treatment for lumbar disc herniation. However, in clinical application, it is necessary to select different cases according to the operating skills of the surgeon and the different conditions of the patients, and establish individualized plans to achieve the best therapeutic effect with minimal trauma. Tessys technique and Yess technique are used in the operation to avoid the risk, and the “targeting” technique is adopted to reach the lesion area, which can successfully and safely complete the removal of the inter-disc tissue compressing the nerve and decompression of the nerve, and achieve a very satisfactory result, with small trauma, fast recovery, low cost, good effect, safety and reliability. It will be more widely popularized and applied.