Advanced Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Therapy ›› 2019, Vol. 3 ›› Issue (4): 193-196.doi: 10.37015/AUDT.2019.191232

• Case Report • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Real-time Ultrasound Volume Navigation Guided Transforaminal Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy in Anatomic Variation: A Case Report

Yingying Li, MMa, Peng Huang, MDb, Shoupeng Li, MMa, Mingbo Zhang, MDa,*()   

  1. a Department of Ultrasound, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
    b Department of Orthopedics, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
  • Received:2019-10-16 Online:2019-12-30 Published:2019-12-25
  • Contact: Mingbo Zhang, MD, E-mail:owsifanduizhe@126.com

Abstract:

Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) has become a mature and mainstream minimal invasive surgical technique in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH). During the operation, transforaminal puncture is considered as a critical and complicated step which is usually carried out under the guidance of X-ray. However, radiation exposure brings a potential threat to the health of the patients and the surgeons. Besides, nerve roots and vessels may be injured since they are invisible on X-ray. So we still need a real-time accurate image guiding system, especially in difficult cases with anatomic variation. Here we report a case to describe a new method, volume navigation with fusion of real-time ultrasound and CT images, to guide PELD in a patient with right L4-L5 LDH who had anatomic variation of lumbar sacralization. Ultrasound volume navigation guided puncture and cannulation process lasted only 10 minutes and the operation decompression time lasted 60 minutes. The total emission radiation dose was 9mGy. The straight leg elevation increased from 50 to 80 degrees after PELD. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) of low back pain reduced from 5 to 1 and leg pain reduced from 7 to 1 immediately after PELD. This is the first case of ultrasound volume navigation in guidance of the postural lateral transforaminal puncture and cannulation process of PELD.

Key words: Ultrasound; Volume navigation; CT; Transforaminal percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy; Anatomic variation