Transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic discectomy in the treatment of far-lateral lumbar disc herniations in children.

PURPOSE: The use of transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic discectomy for the treatment of far-lateral lumbar disc herniations has been applied mostly in adults. However, transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic discectomy in children has probably been rarely documented. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic discectomy in the treatment of far-lateral lumbar disc herniations in children.

METHODS: Overall, 12 cases of far-lateral lumbar disc herniations were treated with the procedure of transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic discectomy between January 2010 and December 2014. There were seven male and five female children included, with an average age of 12.6 years (11-16 years). Pre-operative and post-operative (6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months) clinical outcome data (back and leg visual analog scale [VAS] and Macnab criteria) were collected along with clinical assessments of motor strength (graded 0-5).

RESULTS: All patients were discharged to home on the same day of surgery. The average leg VAS score improved from 8.6 ± 1.6 to 2.1 ± 0.4 (p < 0.005). Six patients had excellent outcomes, five had good outcomes, one had fair outcomes, and none had poor outcomes, according to the Macnab criteria. Eleven of 12 patients had excellent or good outcomes, for an overall success rate of 91.6 %. No patients required re-operation. There were no incidental durotomies, infections, vascular or visceral injuries. There was one complication, a case of leg numbness caused by ganglion injury. The numbness improved after two weeks. After three months, it was obvious that the total area of numbness in the legs had become smaller. At last follow-up, the patient had no pain, and only a few areas with numbness remained and did not affect the patient's activities of daily living.

CONCLUSIONS: Transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic discectomy achieved satisfactory results for children with far-lateral lumbar disc herniations.