[Impact of surgeon's dominant hand-side consistency with surgical approach on operational efficiency of unilateral biportal endoscopic lumbar discectomy: a prospective cohort study].

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the impact of the surgeon's dominant hand-side on the operational efficiency and safety of primary lumbar discectomy under unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE).

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in 60 patients with single-level lumbar disc herniation who underwent UBE lumbar discectomy between August 2024 and August 2025 by the same right-handed surgeon, including 30 patients with non-dominant (right approach) (non-matched group) and 30 patients with dominant (left approach) (matched group). No significant difference was observed between the two groups in baseline data including gender, age, body mass index, herniated segment distribution, disease duration, and preoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score and Oswestry disability index (ODI) ( P>0.05). The total operation time, core endoscopic operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and related complications were recorded and compared between the two groups. A self-developed surgeon's operational fluency assessment score was used for auxiliary subjective evaluation. VAS score and ODI were used to assess pain and functional improvement preoperatively and at 1 and 3 months postoperatively. The modified MacNab criteria was used to evaluate overall surgical outcomes at 3 months postoperatively.

Results: There was no significant difference in the total operation time and intraoperative blood loss between the two groups ( P>0.05). The core endoscopic operation time of the matched group was significantly shorter than that of the non-matched group, and the operational fluency assessment score of the matched group was significantly higher than that of the non-matched group ( P<0.05). All patients were followed up 3-6 months, with an average of 4.2 months. Complications occurred in 2 cases (6.7%) in the matched group, including 1 case of dural tear and 1 case of postoperative transient nerve root palsy, and 1 case (3.3%) in the non-matched group, which was postoperative epidural hematoma. There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between the two groups ( P>0.05). The VAS scores and ODI of the two groups decreased at 1 and 3 months after operation, and improved further at 3 months after operation compared with 1 month after operation, and the differences were significant ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two groups after operation ( P>0.05). Modified MacNab standard was used to evaluate the curative effect at 3 months after operation, and there was no significant difference in the evaluation grade and excellent and good rate between the two groups ( P>0.05).

Conclusion: Consistency between the surgeon's dominant hand side and the surgical approach side significantly improves core endoscopic operational efficiency and surgical fluency in UBE lumbar discectomy, without compromising clinical efficacy or safety. It is suggested that this matching factor should be prioritized in surgical scheduling and beginner training to optimize the operative experience and shorten the learning curve.