Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Reoperation for Recurrent Sciatica Symptoms: A Retrospective Analysis of Outcomes and Prognostic Factors in 94 Patients.

BACKGROUND

Recurrent symptoms of sciatica after previous surgical intervention is a relatively common and troublesome clinical problem. Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar decompression has been proved to be an effective method for recurrent lumbar disc herniation. However, the prognostic factors and outcomes of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar reoperation (PELR) for recurrent sciatica symptoms were still unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes and prognostic factors of patients who underwent PELR for recurrent sciatica symptoms.

METHODS

From 2009 to 2015, 94 patients who underwent PELR for recurrent sciatica symptoms were enrolled. The primary surgeries include transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (n = 16), microendoscopic discectomy (n = 31), percutaneous endoscopic lumbar decompression (PELD, n = 17), and open discectomy (n = 30). The mean follow-up period was 36 months, and 86 (91.5%) patients had obtained at least 24 months' follow-up.

RESULTS

Of the 94 patients with adequate follow-up, 51 (54.3%) exhibited excellent improvement, 23 (24.5%) had good improvement, and 7 (7.4%) had fair improvement according to modified Macnab criteria. The average re-recurrence rate was 9.6%, with no difference among the different primary surgery groups (PELD, 3/17; microendoscopic discectomy, 2/31; open discectomy, 3/30; transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, 1/16). There was a trend toward greater rates of symptom recurrence in the primary group of PELD who underwent percutaneous endoscopic lumbar reoperation compared with other groups, but this did not reach statistical significance (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis suggested that age, body mass index, and surgeon level was independent prognostic factors. Obesity (hazard ratio 13.98, 95% confidence interval 3.394-57.57; P < 0.001) was the risk factor affecting re-recurrence according to logistic regression analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

PELR is a safe and effective treatment for recurrent sciatica symptoms regardless of different primary operation type. Obesity, inferior surgeon level, and patient age older than 40 years were associated with a worse prognosis. Obesity was also a strong and independent predictor of re-recurrence sciatica symptoms after percutaneous endoscopic lumbar decompression.