Effect of Dexmedetomidine Administation on Analgesic, Respiration and Inflammatory Responses in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy: A Prospective Observational Study

BackgroundLocal anesthesia has been recommended for percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) in recent years; however, the efficacy, including oxidative stress, inflammatory reactions and ventilation effects, when intravenous dexmedetomidine (DEX) is administered during PELD has not been thoroughly described.MethodsSixty patients undergoing PELD were randomly allocated to either an intravenous DEX sedation group (Group A) or a normal saline group (Group B). Respiratory data, including minute ventilation (MV), tidal volume (TV), and respiratory rate (RR), were recorded using a respiratory volume monitor (RVM), and pulse oxygen saturation (SpO2) was measured by pulse oximetry. The visual analog score (VAS) and the plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) were also recorded to evaluate oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions.ResultsThere were no significant differences in RR, MV, TV and SpO2 between the two groups at any time point (p>0.05). Group B exhibited lower serum levels of GSH-PX (p<0.0001) and higher serum levels of MDA (p<0.0001) than Group A at the end of surgery. Twenty-four hours after surgery, Group B exhibited higher serum levels of IL-6 (p=0.0033), TNF-α(p=0.0002), and MDA (p<0.0001) and lower serum levels of GSH-PX (p<0.0001) than Group A. In addition, Group B exhibited lower VAS (p<0.0001) than Group A.ConclusionsDEX administration using an RVM not only provides convenient analgesia and ventilation but also alleviates oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions in patients undergoing PELD .Trial registration ChiCTR2100044715(http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx)

The Intrathecal Morphine for Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy (IMPELD) Study: Rationale and Protocol for a Double-blinded Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial

BackgroundPercutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD), a minimally invasive spinal technique for lumbar disc herniation (LDH), has gained popularity globally and yielded satisfying results. However, PELD is often performed on awaking patients to avoid nerve injury, thus the intraoperative analgesia of PELD is sometimes insufficient. The effect of intrathecal morphine (ITM) has been well proved in various surgical specialties, and this study aims to investigate the effectiveness and safety of ITM on PELD.MethodsThe intrathecal morphine for percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (IMPELD) trial is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The 90 eligible LDH patients undergoing PELD will be randomly assigned to receive either ITM or placebo during spinal anesthesia, at a 1:1 ratio, with a one-month follow-up period. Average intraoperative pain intensity will be the primary outcome. Secondary outcome measures include intraoperative pain intensity assessed at each 30 min intraoperatively, postoperative pain intensity, perioperative analgesia requirements, functional evaluation, radiographic characteristics, overall satisfaction, other characteristics and adverse events.DiscussionCurrently, there is a lack of scientific evidence to provide a reliable method to reduce intraoperative pain of PELD. The IMPELD trial was designed to provide evidence regarding whether 100 ug of ITM is an effective and safe coanalgesic approach for PELD procedure.Trial registrationThe trial was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (identifier ChiCTR2000039842). Registered on November 11th, 2020.

A Retrospective Comparative Study of Local Anesthesia Only and Local Anesthesia with Sedation for Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy

The purpose of this study was to compare surgical experience and clinical outcomes of lumbar disk herniation (LDH) patients treated with percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) using local anesthesia only and local anesthesia with sedation. Ninety-two consecutive LDH patients were divided into four groups: control group (Con Group), dexmedetomidine group (Dex Group), oxycodone group (Oxy Group), and dexmedetomidine + oxycodone group (Dex + Oxy Group). Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), Ramsay score and VAS score were compared before anesthesia (T1), working cannula establishment (T2), nucleus pulposus removal (T3), and immediately postoperative (T4). Surgical duration, hospitalization and MacNab criteria were evaluated. In control group, MAP and HR at T2 and T3 were higher than T1 (P < 0.05). In Dex, Oxy, and Dex + Oxy groups, MAP and HR at T2, T3, T4 were lower than T1, but Ramsay scores at T2, T3, T4 were higher than T1 (P < 0.05). VAS scores in all groups were improved postoperative (p>0.05). The clinical outcomes have no significant differences among the four groups (P > 0.05). We concluded that the combination of dexmedetomidine and oxycodone under local anesthesia is an effective method to improve surgical experience and reduce anxiety in suitable LDH patients.

Pain Variability of Tissues Under Endoscope in Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy and Its Significance: A Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD), as a representative minimally invasive spine surgery technique for lumbar disc herniation (LDH), has been standardized. In PELD, tissues such as ligamentum flavum, dural sac, nerve root, posterior longitudinal ligament, annulus fibrosus, and endplate were exposed, removed, and decompressed. However, during PELD, whether there is pain or not in the tissues under endoscope in LDH patients has never been thoroughly discussed in the previous research. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study is to evaluate tissue pain variability during PELD as for the treatment of LDH, to provide references and guideline for the operation, and to give humanistic care for patients. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective analysis. SETTING: All data were collected from Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University. METHODS: From January 2008 to December 2020, 3,600 patients with LDH were enrolled in this retrospective study. All patients suffered from low back and leg pain because of LDH and underwent PELD. The pain of these tissues under endoscope was assessed according to the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores for the back and legs (VAS-B and VAS-L, respectively). RESULTS: For VAS-B, the tissues were ranked from the highest VAS scores to the lowest in the following order: posterior longitudinal ligament; next, dural sac/nerve root; then, endplate/annulus fibrosus/ligamentum flavum. For VAS-L, they were in the following order: dural sac/nerve root; next, posterior longitudinal ligament; then, endplate/annulus fibrosus/ligamentum flavum. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective nature of data collection. CONCLUSIONS: Tissues, such as ligamentum flavum, dural sac, nerve root, posterior longitudinal ligament, annulus fibrosus, and endplate, have different kinds of pain in PELD for LDH. KEY WORDS: Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy, visual analog scale, lumbar disc herniation, pain

Risk of reoperation and infection after percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy and open lumbar discectomy

Aims Open discectomy (OD) is the standard operation for lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD), however, has shown similar outcomes to OD and there is increasing interest in this procedure. However despite improved surgical techniques and instrumentation, reoperation and infection rates continue and are reported to be between 6% and 24% and 0.7% and 16%, respectively. The objective of this study was to compare the rate of reoperation and infection within six months of patients being treated for LDH either by OD or PELD. Methods In this retrospective, nationwide cohort study, the Korean National Health Insurance database from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2018 was reviewed. Data were extracted for patients who underwent OD or PELD for LDH without a history of having undergone either procedure during the preceding year. Individual patients were followed for six months through their encrypted unique resident registration number. The primary endpoints were rates of reoperation and infection during the follow-up period. Other risk factors for reoperation and infection were also evalulated. Results Out of 549,531 patients, 522,640 had undergone OD (95.11%) and 26,891 patients had undergone PELD (4.89%). Reoperation rates within six months were 2.28% in the OD group, and 5.38% in the PELD group. Infection rates were 1.18% in OD group and 0.83% in PELD group. The risk of reoperation was lower for patients with OD than for patients with PELD (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.38). The risk of infection was higher for patients with OD than for patients undergoing PELD (HR, 1.325). Conclusion Compared with the OD group, the PELD group showed higher reoperation rates and lower infection rates. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2021;103-B(8):1392–1399.