Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 14, 2022; 10(2): 656-662
Published online Jan 14, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i2.656
Full-endoscopic spine surgery treatment of lumbar foraminal stenosis after osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures: A case report
Quan-Lai Zhao, Kun-Peng Hou, Zhong-Xuan Wu, Liang Xiao, Hong-Guang Xu
Quan-Lai Zhao, Kun-Peng Hou, Zhong-Xuan Wu, Liang Xiao, Hong-Guang Xu, Department of Spine Surgery, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu 241001, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Zhao QL and Wu ZX performed the full-endoscopic spine surgery and applied the continuous treatment; Xu HG and Xiao L validated the data and visualization; Hou KP searched the literature; Zhao QL drafted the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81972108.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hong-Guang Xu, PhD, Professor, Department of Spine Surgery, Wannan Medical College, No. 2 Zheshan West Road, Wuhu 241001, Anhui Province, China.pumchxuhg@126.com
Received: June 14, 2021
Peer-review started: June 14, 2021
First decision: October 16, 2021
Revised: October 22, 2021
Accepted: December 8, 2021
Article in press: December 8, 2021
Published online: January 14, 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Few reports have described lumbar foraminal stenosis-induced radiculopathy after treatment by full-endoscopic spine surgery (FESS) combined with percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in patients with vertebral compression fractures. We herein report such a case, including the patient’s treatment process and doctor’s surgical experience.

CASE SUMMARY

A 79-year-old man presented with symptoms of radiculopathy after sustaining L4 vertebral compression fractures. Imaging and physical examination revealed L4 vertebral compression fractures combined with L3/4 Lumbar foraminal stenosis (LFS). The patient’s symptoms were low back pain with pain in the lateral left leg. Although many reports have described radiculopathy induced by osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, the use of FESS combined with PVP has rarely been reported. This case report indicates that the combination of FESS and PVP is a safe and effective approach for the treatment of LFS-induced radiculopathy after vertebral compression fractures. This minimally invasive technique has great potential to replace traditional lumbar fixation and decompression surgery. Thus, we suggest the continued accumulation of similar cases to discuss the wider application of FESS.

CONCLUSION

For patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) and LFS, PVP and FESS can be used to restore the vertebral height and reduce the pressure around the intervertebral foramen. Additionally, the combination of FESS and PVP can treat the pain or numbness of the low back and lower limbs and allow for recovery in a short time with excellent postoperative effects. In general, FESS is a good treatment for radiculopathy caused by foraminal stenosis after OVCF.

Keywords: Osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture, Lumbar foraminal stenosis, Percutaneous vertebroplasty, Full-endoscopic spine surgery, Radiculopathy, Case report

Core Tip: Clinically, the number of patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures combined with nerve root entrapment symptoms is gradually increasing. Percutaneous vertebroplasty alone can not completely relieve the clinical symptoms of patients. We found that the choice of total spinal endoscopic surgery combined with percutaneous vertebroplasty can be a good treatment for such patients, suggesting that combined with minimally invasive technology is a positive and effective surgical treatment.