title: Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy for adolescent lumbar disc herniation: surgical outcomes in 46 consecutive patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The surgical outcome of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) for adolescent lumbar disc herniation has rarely been reported on. We performed this study to evaluate the surgical outcome of PELD for adolescent lumbar disc herniation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the surgical outcomes in 46 consecutive adolescent patients between 13 and 18 years of age (mean age, 16.5 years) who underwent PELD for single level lumbar disc herniation from June 2000 to May 2002. Using the clinical charts and mailed questionnaires, we evaluated the patients preoperatively by the postoperative Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for back and leg pain, and by the postoperative Macnab criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PELD was performed at L3-4 on one patient, at L4-5 on 40 patients and at L5-S1 on 5 patients. One patient complained of transient dysesthesia after the operation. Another patient underwent subsequent open discectomy because only incomplete decompression was achieved with PELD. At a mean follow-up duration of 37.2 months (range: 25-48 months), the mean VAS scores of both the back and leg pain decreased significantly. In terms of the Macnab criteria, 91.3% of the patients showed excellent or good outcomes. Recurrent disc herniation developed in one patient 14 months after surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescents who underwent PELD for single level soft lumbar disc herniation showed favorable results that were comparable to the results of open discectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Gimpo Airport Wooridul Spine Hospital, 47-4 Chungdam-dong Kangnam-gu, 135-100, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Yeob
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Sang-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017587:Diskectomy, Percutaneous / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome