The study followed 101 patients with disc herniation. Seventy-seven patients underwent microdiscectomy and 24 underwent microscopic sequestrectomy (the removal of free-disc fragment sequestrectomy without clearing the disc space).
The average operating time for microdisectomy patients was 32 minutes, compared to the average of 24 minutes it took to perform the sequestrectomy. The reherniation rate was slightly lower in the sequestrectomy group (4.17 percent) than in the microdiscectomy group (5.56 percent).
The complication rate was 6.4 percent among the microdiscectomy patients and 4.17 percent among the sequestrectomy patients. The researchers recommend the sequestrectomy as a more successful procedure in patients who are selected according to well-defined criteria, which is greatly dependent on the competence of the annulus/posterior longitude ligament.
Read the abstract on the mircrodisectomy versus the sequestrectomy for the lumbar spine.
Read other coverage on spine surgery studies:
– Study Finds Spine Surgeons Agree on When to Perform Surgery, Disagree on the Appropriate Procedure
– Study: Spine Surgery Better for Diabetic Patients With Spinal Stenosis, Degenerative Spondylolisthesis
