Background: Post-laminectomy syndrome is a common cause of dissatisfaction after endoscopic interlaminar approach. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of our two newly designed instruments for laminotomy, a dural protector attached to the scope and a knot pusher for water-tight suturing of the incidental dural tears.
Material and methods: This was a multicenter evaluation. Efficacy was quantified as the pre-to-postoperative improvement in pain (visual analog scale), disability (Oswestry Disability Index), patient satisfaction (modified MacNab score), and length of hospital stay. Safety was quantified by the incidence and location of dural tears, rate of revision, and radiological outcomes. Outcomes were evaluated between the control (before instrument development) and experimental (after instrument development) groups.
Results: There was a significant improvement in leg pain in the experimental group (p = 0.03), with greater patient satisfaction in the control group (p < 0.01). There was no incidence of dural tears in the area of the traversing and exiting nerve roots in the experimental group. Water-tightness of sutures was confirmed radiologically.
Conclusion: The novel dural protector and the knot pusher for water-tight sutures improved the efficacy and safety of decompression and discectomy; however, a prolonged operative time was a drawback.
Keywords: biportal endoscopic spine surgery; dural protection; endoscopic decompression; percutaneous biportal endoscopic spine surgery; unilateral biportal endoscopy.