Advances in Endoscopic Lumbar Spine Surgery: A Comprehensive Review of the Techniques used for the Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniations and Spinal Stenosis and Lumbar Spinal Fusion.

Abstract

Endoscopic lumbar spine surgery has been practiced for decades but has recently gained popularity as a minimally invasive technique for treating the most common spinal pathologies treated by spine surgeons. These include lumbar disc herniations, spinal stenosis, and lumbar spinal fusion. This review provides comprehensive, up-to-date analyses of the two main approaches-uniportal and biportal endoscopy-utilized for discectomy, foraminotomy, laminectomy, and interbody fusion. The key advantages of endoscopic spine surgery include smaller incisions, less soft tissue disruption, reduced blood loss, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery times, all of which collectively contribute to positive patient outcomes. Advances in visualization and instrumentation as well as surgeon training and experience have expanded the indications for endoscopic spine surgery beyond herniated discs, allowing its application in more complex conditions, such as highly migrated disc herniations, spinal tumors, and trauma. Moreover, endoscopic surgery has shown promising results in special populations, such as obese patients, where traditional open approaches can be challenging. Despite its advantages, adopting endoscopic spine surgery poses several challenges: particularly a steep learning curve related to issues with depth perception, maneuvering instruments in narrow spaces, and managing technical pitfalls like dural tears and hemostasis. There are also limitations with endoscopic interbody fusions, in particular the use of smaller cages that have a limited fusion surface area and sagittal alignment; newer expandable cages may circumvent these shortcomings, however. As the body of literature demonstrates comparable, if not superior, outcomes to traditional open surgery, the adoption of endoscopic techniques is expected to increase. Continued innovation, surgeon education and experience, and most important, patient demand are driving the growth of this technique. It is the authors' opinions that in the near future, endoscopic spine surgery will become a fundamental approach utilized in the treatment of degenerative lumbar spine conditions.