The treatment of continuous double-level lumbar degenerated disease with PE-TLIF: A case report.

RATIONALE: Percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (PE-TLIF) is a minimally invasive surgical approach for the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases, Due to the high incidence of surgical complications and long operative time, the cases reported in previous literature were focused on single segment lumbar degenerative diseases. In our study, we present 2 patients who had continuous double-level lumbar degenerated disease.

PATIENT CONCERNS: A 71-year-old man with severe low back pain and right leg pain for 3 months, a 57-year-old woman with severe low back pain and bilateral leg pain for 6 months. Conservative treatment is ineffective for both of them.

DIAGNOSES: Magnetic resonance imaging and physical examination show that the patients had 2 consecutive segments lumbar degenerated disease that required surgical treatment.

INTERVENTIONS: Considering the poor efficacy of conservative treatment, We performed PE-TLIF on 2 patients.

OUTCOMES: Finally, both of 2 patients obtained a satisfactory short-term clinical efficacy, without any complications.What's more, the most crucial thing is that average operative time is only 205 minutes.

LESSONS: The patients of continuous double-level lumbar degenerated disease treated with PE-TLIF may provide significant support in selecting the appropriate treatments for similar cases and increase the surgical indications for PE-TLIF.