European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Objectives: To evaluate the results of micro-endoscopic discectomy and open discectomy in lumbar disc prolapse.
Methods: This study is a prospectively conducted study of 30 patients operated by a single surgeon with both modalities. The first modality is endoscopic discectomy using METRx system (Medtronic, Sofamor-Danek, Memphis, TN) using 22mm port and the second is open method of discectomy for lumbar disc herniation.
Results: The results were evaluated using ODI (Oswestry Disability Index) and VAS (visual analogue scale 0-10) for back pain and leg pain. Patients were followed up at an interval of 1 week, 2 week, 1 month, 6 months and 12 months post-operatively.
Conclusion: By limiting the tissue manipulation via small incisions and minimal muscle dissection, MED has reported to have better perioperative outcomes, including shorter hospital stay, less blood loss, less pain medicine requirement, decreased surgical site infection rate, quicker return to activities and Early discharge rate than open method. Although MED have some advantages over the open techniques in the perioperative factors, both the techniques are effective and provide similar pain relief and functional outcomes at the end of 2 years.