Stand-Alone Percutaneous Pedicle Screw Lumbar Fixation to Indirectly Decompress the Neural Elements in Spinal Stenosis: A Radiographic Assessment Case Series.

BACKGROUND

 The ideal surgical treatment of lumbar canal stenosis remains controversial. Although decompressive open surgery has been widely used with good clinical outcome, minimally invasive indirect decompression techniques have been developed to avoid the complications associated with open approaches. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiologic outcome and safety of the indirect decompression achieved with stand-alone percutaneous pedicle screw fixation in the surgical treatment of lumbar degenerative pathologies.

METHODS

 Twenty-eight patients presenting with spinal degenerative diseases including concomitant central and/or lateral stenosis were treated with stand-alone percutaneous pedicle screw fixation. Radiographic measurements were made on axial and sagittal magnetic resonance (MR) images, performed before surgery and after a mean follow-up period of 25.2 months. Measurements included spinal canal and foraminal areas, and anteroposterior canal diameter.

RESULTS

 Percutaneous screw fixation was performed in 35 spinal levels. Measurements on the follow-up MR images showed statistically significant increase in the cross-sectional area of the spinal canal and the neural foramen, from a mean of 88.22 and 61.05 mm

CONCLUSION

 Stand-alone percutaneous pedicle screw fixation is a safe and effective technique for indirect decompression of the spinal canal and neural foramina in lumbar degenerative diseases. This minimally invasive technique may provide the necessary decompression in cases of common degenerative lumbar disorders with ligamentous stenosis.

Informations de copyright

Thieme. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

None declared.