Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy for adolescent lumbar disc herniation: surgical outcomes in 46 consecutive patients.

BACKGROUND: The surgical outcome of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) for adolescent lumbar disc herniation has rarely been reported on. We performed this study to evaluate the surgical outcome of PELD for adolescent lumbar disc herniation.

METHODS: We analyzed the surgical outcomes in 46 consecutive adolescent patients between 13 and 18 years of age (mean age, 16.5 years) who underwent PELD for single level lumbar disc herniation from June 2000 to May 2002. Using the clinical charts and mailed questionnaires, we evaluated the patients preoperatively by the postoperative Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for back and leg pain, and by the postoperative Macnab criteria.

RESULTS: PELD was performed at L3-4 on one patient, at L4-5 on 40 patients and at L5-S1 on 5 patients. One patient complained of transient dysesthesia after the operation. Another patient underwent subsequent open discectomy because only incomplete decompression was achieved with PELD. At a mean follow-up duration of 37.2 months (range: 25-48 months), the mean VAS scores of both the back and leg pain decreased significantly. In terms of the Macnab criteria, 91.3% of the patients showed excellent or good outcomes. Recurrent disc herniation developed in one patient 14 months after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents who underwent PELD for single level soft lumbar disc herniation showed favorable results that were comparable to the results of open discectomy.