J Minim Invasive Spine Surg Tech.  2021 Apr;6(Suppl 1):S97-S102. 10.21182/jmisst.2021.00087.

Full Endoscopic Spine Surgery in the View of Tubular Endoscopic Spine Surgery

• Kulkarni AG
• Yeshwanth T

• KMID: 2562103
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.21182/jmisst.2021.00087

Abstract

Integration of technological advancements across multiple modalities enabled different surgical specialties to embrace various minimally invasive approaches. Such advancements related to spine surgery are gaining popularity due to focal nature of majority of the spine pathologies. Tubular retractors of various types and dimensions have proved their worth by giving very good results when used with either microscope or endoscope. They enable surgical decompression and fusion with minimal alteration of the normal musculoligamentous anatomy of back and have proven their versatility by delivering excellent outcomes for different conditions. The evolution of the techniques of full endoscopy opened new paths which seem promising to further refinement of spine surgery. This progress has brought us to the crossroads of either carrying out the satisfactory techniques of tubular retractors or to try something different by taking another steep learning curve and shifting to full endoscopic techniques. It has to be seen whether the transition to full endoscopic intervention is worth exploring new horizons by taking a longer trajectory of learning when similar advantages are being achieved by existing tubular techniques. In this report, we discuss the pathologies dealt with and the changing trends for developing to full endoscopic techniques under the experience of tubular endoscopic spine surgery.

Keyword

Minimally invasive spine surgery; Tubular retractors; Decompression; Interbody fusion; Tubular decompression; MIS-TLIF