Xifeng Zhang

Study Design A case report. Objective Presentation of transpedicular approach for endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) in a patient with thoracic spine metastases from lung cancer with incomplete paralysis. Background The spine is the most colonized site for tumor bone metastases, and approximately 5–10% of patients develop symptoms of nerve and spinal cord compression. Traditional open surgery is the best management strategy to address patients’ neurological symptoms, but its demanding physical status and low clinical benefit in end-stage patients limit its application in spinal metastases. With the accumulation of experience and technological breakthroughs in ESS, this technology has become an ideal choice for palliative treatment of patients with end-stage spinal metastases. Method A patient with thoracic spine metastasis from lung cancer with incomplete paralysis was treated with ESS using a transpedicular approach. Results A patient with lung cancer thoracic spine metastasis with incomplete paralysis was unable to tolerate traditional open surgery due to her physical condition, so our team used the strategy of spinal endoscopic decompression with tumor resection via transpedicular approach to treat him. After the operation, the patient’s pain and neurological symptoms were significantly relieved, and he regained the ability to walk on himself within two months. Moreover, the technique prolonged his survival while safeguarding his quality of life. Conclusion ESS is ideal for patients with end-stage spinal metastases.

Purpose Introducing a suture repair technology, endoscopic double line suture repair technique, for iatrogenic dural injury during Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy (PELD) surgery. Methods A patient with dural injury and cauda equina herniation during PELD surgery was treated with endoscopic double line suture repair technique. Results A patient with dural injury and cauda equina nerve herniation during PELD surgery was successfully treated using double-line suture technique. After the repair, no obvious cerebrospinal fluid leakage and cauda equina nerve re-herniation was seen. During the postoperative observation period, the wound healed well and there were no complications related to cerebrospinal leakage. During the follow-up period (1 year), the patient reported significant symptom relief and no complications. Conclusion This novel dural repair technology is safe and effective and can be used to treat dural injuries during PELD surgery.

Background Durotomy during endoscopic spine surgery can cause a patient’s neurological or cardiovascular status to deteriorate unexpectedly intra- or postoperatively. There is currently limited literature regarding appropriate fluid management strategies, irrigation-related risk factors, and clinical consequences of incidental durotomy during spinal endoscopy, and no validated irrigation protocol exists for endoscopic spine surgery. Thus, the present article sought to (1) describe 3 cases of durotomy, (2) investigate standard epidural pressure measurements, and (3) survey endoscopic spine surgeons on the incidence of adverse effects believed to result from durotomy. Materials and Methods The authors first reviewed clinical outcomes and analyzed complications in 3 patients with intraoperatively recognized incidental durotomy. Second, the authors conducted a small case series with intraoperative epidural pressure measurements during gravity-assisted irrigated video endoscopy of the lumbar spine. Measurements were conducted on 12 patients with a transducer assembly that was introduced through the endoscopic working channel of the RIWOSpine Panoview Plus and Vertebris endoscope to the decompression site in the spine. Third, the authors conducted a retrospective, multiple-choice survey of endoscopic spine surgeons to better understand the frequency and seriousness of problems they attributed to irrigation fluid escaping from the surgical decompression site into the spinal canal and neural axis. Descriptive and correlative statistical analyses were performed on the surgeons’ responses. Results In the first part of this study, durotomy-related complications during irrigated spinal endoscopy were observed in 3 patients. Postoperative head computed tomographic (CT) images revealed massive blood in the intracranial subarachnoid space, the basal cisterns, the III and IV ventricle, and the lateral ventricles characteristic of an arterial fisher grade IV subarachnoid hemorrhage, and hydrocephalus without evidence of aneurysms or angiomas. Two additional patients developed intraoperative seizures, cardiac arrhythmia, and hypotension. The head CT image in 1 of these 2 patients had intracranial air entrapment. In the second part, epidural pressure measurements in 12 patients who underwent uneventful routine lumbar interlaminar decompression for L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc herniation showed an average epidural pressure of 24.5 mm Hg. In the third part, the online survey was accessed by 766 spine surgeons worldwide and had a response rate of 43.6%. Irrigation-related problems were reported by 38% of responding surgeons. Only 11.8% used irrigation pumps, with 90% running the pump above 40 mm Hg. Headaches (4.5%) and neck pain (4.9%) were observed by nearly a 10th (9.4%) of surgeons. Seizures in combination with headaches, neck and abdominal pain, soft tissue edema, and nerve root injury were reported by another 5 surgeons. One surgeon reported a delirious patient. Another 14 surgeons thought that they had patients with neurological deficits ranging from nerve root injury to cauda equina syndrome related to irrigation fluid. Autonomic dysreflexia associated with hypertension was attributed by 19 of the 244 responding surgeons to the noxious stimulus of escaped irrigation fluid that migrated from the decompression site in the spinal canal. Two of these 19 surgeons reported 1 case associated with a recognized incidental durotomy and another with postoperative paralysis. Conclusions Patients should be educated preoperatively about the risk of irrigated spinal endoscopy. Although rare, intracranial blood, hydrocephalus, headaches, neck pain, seizures, and more severe complications, including life-threatening autonomic dysreflexia with hypertension, may arise if irrigation fluid enters the spinal canal or the dural sac and migrates from the endoscopic site along the neural axis rostrally. Experienced endoscopic spine surgeons suspect a correlation between durotomy and irrigation-related extra- and intradural pressure equalization that could be problematic if associated with high volumes of irrigation fluid Level of Evidence 3.

Adult degenerative scoliosis (ADS) is a serious disease that often affects middle-aged and elderly people. ADS does not only cause sagittal and coronal deformity of the lumbar spine but also causes severe back and leg pain secondary to the compression of the neural structures. Open surgery remains the main method for correcting the occurring deformity and decompression of the neural structures; however, its benefit is limited in cases of large trauma. Minimally invasive spinal (MIS) surgery is an alternative method that has recently witnessed rapid development. It has the advantage of providing rapid recovery with less trauma as compared to conventional open surgery. We report two cases of ADS treated with percutaneous spinal endoscopic-assisted lumbar interbody fusion (EALIF) and percutaneous pedicle screw fixation. Both cases had moderate deformities of the lumbar spine (load-sharing classification 4–7 points) with severe back and leg pain, and they underwent successful MIS surgery. At 6 months of follow-up, the visual analog scale and Oswestry disability index scores of both patients improved and the deformity was corrected. For moderate ADS, percutaneous spinal EALIF and percutaneous pedicle screw fixation may achieve an effective correction of the deformity with direct decompression of neural structures.

The authors present a case of a 25-year old female patient who presented to their facility with a chief complaint of low back pain and discomfort for the previous two months. The symptoms gradually worsened. The patient denied any fever, night sweats, and other aches. Symptoms worsened when standing up. They were also aggravated by changing the body position. In particular, bending forward was restricted. There was no radiating pain in the lower extremities. An MRI of the lumbar spine revealed a lesion raising suspicions of tuberculosis of the spine, which was later confirmed with biopsy and cultures. The patient was placed on oral multi antituberculosis antibiotic treatment but responded poorly to this treatment without much clinical improvement. Therefore, endoscopic access was chosen to debride and irrigate the paraspinal tuberculous abscess, which successfully treated the infection. The authors report the case details to illustrate that a combination of antibiotic treatment and endoscopic debridement may resolve the lumbar spine's complicated infection adequately. Minimally invasive endoscopic irrigation and lavage of paraspinal tuberculous abscesses can be considered an alternative to open surgery.

Background: The basic endoscopic instruments are not suitable for removing calcified or hard discs in patients with thoracic disc herniations (TDH). We describe a percutaneous endoscopic technique for the treatment of calcified TDH using an endoscopic drill system with a T rigid bendable burr. Methods: Eleven patients (8 males, mean age 42.1 years) with single-segmental calcified TDH were treated with percutaneous endoscopic surgeries. Results: Our technique using this endoscopic drill system with a T rigid bendable burr is safe and effective for the treatment of calcified TDH. Conclusions: Percutaneous endoscopic decompression using the T rigid bendable burr is a safe and reproducible surgical procedure for the treatment of calcified TDH.

Purpose. Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) is a minimally invasive disc surgery that can be performed under local anesthesia and requires only an eight-mm skin incision. For the patients with lumbar foraminal stenosis, the migrated disc is difficult to remove with a simple transforaminal approach. In such cases, the foraminoplasty techniques can be used. However, obtaining efficient foramen enlargement while minimizing radiation exposure and protecting the nerves can be challenging. Methods. In this study, we propose a new technique called the Kiss-Hug maneuver. Under endoscopic viewing, we used the bevel tip of a working cannula as a bone reamer to enlarge the foramen. This allowed us to efficiently enlarge the lumbar foramen endoscopically without the redundancy and complications associated with reamers or trephines. Results. Details of the four steps of the Kiss-Hug maneuver are reported along with adverse events. The advantages of this new technique include minimizing radiation exposure to both the surgeon and the patient and decreasing the overall operation time. Conclusion. The endoscopic Kiss-Hug maneuver is a useful and reliable foraminoplasty technique that can enhance the efficiency of foraminoplasty while ensuring patient safety and reducing radiation exposure.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of chronic joint disease that is characterized by the degeneration and loss of articular cartilage and hyperplasia of the synovium and subchondral bone. There is reasonable knowledge about articular cartilage physiology, biochemistry, and chondrocyte metabolism. However, the etiology and pathogenesis of OA remain unclear and need urgent clarification to guide the early diagnosis and treatment of OA. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membrane-linking particles that are released from cells. In recent decades, several special biological properties have been found in EV, especially in terms of cartilage. Autophagy plays a critical role in the regulation of cellular homeostasis. Likewise, more and more research has gradually focused on the effect of autophagy on chondrocyte proliferation and function in OA. The synthesis and release of EV are closely associated with autophagy. At the same time, both EV and autophagy play a role in OA development. Based on the mechanism of EV and autophagy in OA development, EV may be beneficial in the early diagnosis of OA; on the other hand, the combination of EV and autophagy-related regulatory drugs may provide insight into possible OA therapeutic strategies.