Clinical Outcomes of Microscope-assisted Unilateral Laminotomy for Bilateral Decompression via a Minimally Invasive Tubular Approach for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
LUO Fochang
LIU Yongdan
Abstract：Objective To analyze the clinical efficacy of microscope-assisted unilateral laminotomy for bilateral decompression(ULBD)performed through a minimally invasive tubular approach in the treatment of lum-bar spinal stenosis.Methods A total of 120 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis treated at the Second Hospital of Sanming from March 2022 to March 2024 were enrolled.Using a random number table,patients were assigned to an observation group(minimally invasive tubular,microscope-assisted ULBD;n=60)or a control group(con-ventional open surgery;n=60).Perioperative variables(operative time,intraoperative fluoroscopy time,intraop-erative blood loss,and length of hospital stay),pain intensity(visual analogue scale,VAS),disability(Oswestry Disability Index,ODI),and lumbar function(Japanese Orthopaedic Association,JOA score)were compared.Re-sults Compared with the control group,the observation group had longer operative time and intraoperative fluor-oscopy time(both P＜0.001),less intraoperative blood loss(P＜0.001),and a shorter length of stay(P＜0.001).At 1 week and 3 months postoperatively,VAS scores were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group(P＜0.001);at 6 and 12 months,there were no significant differences between groups(P＞0.05).At 3 months postoperatively,ODI scores were significantly lower in the observation group(P＜0.001),with no significant between-group differences at 6 and 12 months(both P＞0.05).At 3 months,JOA scores were significantly higher in the observation group(P＜0.001);at 6 and 12 months,no significant differences were observed between groups(both P＞0.05).Conclusion In patients with lumbar spinal stenosis,microscope-assisted ULBD via a minimally invasive tubular approach alleviates low back and leg pain and improves lumbar function,offering the advantages of smaller surgical trauma,reduced blood loss,and faster recovery compared with conventional open surgery.
Keywords：Minimally invasive tubular ap-proachUnilateral laminotomy for bilateral decompres-sionLumbar spinal stenosis
Publication Date：2025-07-28
Online Publishing Date：2025-12-02(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 809-812 )