Treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis in elderly patients using percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy combined with postoperative three-dimensional traction.

BACKGROUND

There were few previous studies about the use of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) combined with postoperative three-dimensional traction in elderly patients with stenosis. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of PELD combined with postoperative three-dimensional traction in the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis in elderly patients.

METHODS

A total of 180 elderly patients with lumbar spinal stenosis were randomly divided into three groups: the traditional surgery group, PELD group (transforaminal approach), and PELD combined with postoperative three-dimensional traction group. The operation duration, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, and the imaging data for pelvic incidence (PI), sacral slope (SS), pelvic tilt (PT), thoracic kyphosis (TK), and lumbar lordosis (LL) were obtained. Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS) and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) Score were carried one year after the operation.

RESULTS

The operation duration, intraoperative blood loss, and hospital stay in PELD combined with postoperative three-dimensional traction group were significantly lower than in the traditional group. There were better outcomes of the LL, SS, and PT changes before and after surgery, as well as the VAS and JOA scores after surgery, in the PELD combined with postoperative three-dimensional traction group than in the other two groups.

CONCLUSION

PELD combined with postoperative three-dimensional traction reduced hospital stay, provided adequate decompression for the spine, and improved surgical outcomes.