Results of a clinical trial of the holmium:YAG laser in disc decompression utilizing a side-firing fiber: A two-year follow-up
✍ Scribed by Casper, G. David; Hartman, Valerie L.; Mullins, Larry L.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 693 KB
- Volume
- 19
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0196-8092
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Background and objective:
Laser-assisted disc decompression (ladd) is an operative technique for the treatment of symptomatic, nonsequestered herniated nucleus pulposus that has failed to respond to conservative treatment. the current study reports 2-year follow-up data. study design materials and methods: patients were evaluated by an independent interviewer postoperatively, and at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. ratings were based upon the modified macnab criteria. all patients evidenced primarily leg pain with or without back pain that had failed a minimum of 6 weeks of conservative treatment. patients with lateral recess or central stenosis, sequestered discs, or predominantly scar tissue from a previous discectomy were not considered candidates for ladd.
Results:
Utilizing postoperative follow-up at 2 years, a surgical success rate of 86.9% was achieved. for patients requiring an additional ladd procedure, results at 6-month follow-up yielded a surgical success rate of 80%.
Conclusion:
Ladd appears to be a viable treatment modality for symptomatic, nonsequestered lumbar disc herniation recalcitrant to conservative treatment. ladd may represent a more cost-effective and safer alternative to traditional surgical procedures.