BACKGROUND Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) spine procedures were developed to limit operative time, the extent of dissection, and reduce perioperative morbidity. Here, we asked what are the "learning curves" for these MIS spine procedures? METHODS We reviewed studies in the literature that discussed the "learning curves" attributed to performing different MIS spine surgical procedures. Of in...

What was once a simple lumbar disc herniation treated with laminotomy and partial discectomy, with typically excellent results (25, 46), has evolved into a surprisingly complex clinical problem with a dazzling array of therapeutic alternatives. Much of this, of course, is based on clinical studies emphasizing the heterogeneity of disc disorders. Advances in biomechanics research focusing on the...

Lumbar discectomy is the most common operative technique at neurosurgery clinics around the world. The complications of lumbar disc operation include infections, dural tear, bleeding, vascular, and intestinal injuries. Infectious complications of lumbar disc surgery are superficial and profound tissue infections, meningitides, and epidural abscess. Although retained surgical sponges (gossypibom...

OBJECTIVE Discectomy as a treatment for herniated lumbar discs results in outcomes after surgery that are not uniformly positive. Surgeons face the dilemma between limited nucleus removal which is associated with a higher risk of recurrence, or more aggressive nucleus removal which may lead to disc height loss and persistent back-pain. annulus closure devices may allow for the benefits of limit...

Lumbar discectomy for relief of sciatica in patients with intervertebral disc herniation (IDH) is one of the most wellresearched and common indications for spine surgery. There is good evidence that lumbar discectomy for carefully selected patients with sciatica as the result of lumbar disc herniation provides faster relief of symptoms than nonoperative treatment [1,2]; however, randomized tria...

Lumbar discectomy is one of the most commonly performed neurosurgical procedure. Far lateral disc herniations (FLDH) make up a minor portion of the total discectomy workload for spine surgeons. Due to their lower incidence, as well as their different anatomical positioning compared to the more common para-median disc herniation, the surgical procedures involved in releasing the neural compressi...

  Background: Several prognostic factors exist influencing the outcome of surgical discectomy in the patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH). The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between severity of preoperative impaired ankle reflex and outcomes of lumbar discectomy in the patients with L5-S1 LDH. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 181 patients (108 male and 73 female) w...