Clinical Analysis of the Ligament-Sparing Microdiskectomy for the Lumbar Disk Herniation

The microdiskectomy was developed out of attempts to refine the classical lumbar laminectomy and diskectomy. The ligament-sparing microdiskectomy, a more refined technique, was developed by the author. For this study a series of patients, operated by the present author, were reviewed.

Consecutive patients admitted to Ewha Mokdong hospital between August 1997 and June 2000 who were to undergo virgin, unilateral single-level lumbar ligament-sparing microdiskectomy undergoing unilateral single-level microdiskectomies were included. The technique of the ligament-sparing diskectomy was described in detail.

A total of 83 patients were operated on(M : F/63 : 21), with an average age of 37.2 years. Successful outcome was achieved in 78 patients(93.9%). Surgical complications included one wound infection and one reoperation for residual disk herniation.

The author believe that this technique is safe, can provide acceptable clinical outcome, and has an additional advantage of preserving the epidural fat.