Management of Lumbar Postero-lateral Single Level Disc Herniation: Comparative Study Between Conventional and Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy

Lumbar discectomy is one of the most common operation performed worldwide for lumbar-related symptoms. Lumbar disc herniation accounts for only 5% of all low back pain problems but is the most common cause of radiating nerve root pain, sciatica.

Mixter and Barr described the first surgical procedure to remove the herniated lumbar disc in 1934 through a laminectomy and durotomy, with later enhancement by Semmes, who described approaching the herniated disc through hemilaminectomy and retraction of the dural sac. This became popularized as the "classical discectomy technique.

During the latter half of the 19th century, more techniques were developed to remove the herniated disc with minimal invasiveness. The first herniated disc excision using a microscope (microdiscectomy) was performed by Yasargil in 1977, which was the standard surgical procedure at the time In 1993, Mayer and Brock and then in 1997, Smith and Foley described endoscopic discectomy techniques. With these minimally invasive techniques, authors demonstrated decreased soft tissue manipulation, operative time, blood loss, and hospital stay, allowing early recovery.

In this study we try to evaluate clinical and radiological outcomes of percutaneous endoscopic translaminar discectomy at our hospital.