From the Research
Frequency of Surgical Intervention
The frequency of surgical intervention for lumbar (L) 5-sacral (S) 1 intervertebral disc herniations can be understood through various studies that have investigated different surgical approaches and their outcomes.
- A study published in 2007 1 reported that out of 580 patients who underwent discectomy for lumbar disc herniation, 14 patients had far-lateral disc herniations at the L5-S1 level, which accounts for 2.4% of the total cases.
- Another study from 1996 2 compared the outcomes of laparoscopic L5-S1 diskectomy and traditional laminectomy, and found that 22 patients underwent 23 laparoscopic procedures, while 23 patients underwent laminectomy.
- A 2011 study 3 on endoscopic discectomy of L5-S1 disc herniation via an interlaminar approach reported that 123 patients underwent the procedure, with significant improvement in visual analog scale (VAS) scores for back pain and leg pain, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores.
- A more recent study from 2023 4 on the transpars approach for L5-S1 foraminal and extra-foraminal lumbar disc herniations reported that 14 patients were enrolled, with significant improvement in NRS-leg and NRS-back scores, and Oswestry Score.
- A comparative study from 2021 5 compared the efficacy and safety of three minimally invasive surgical approaches for the treatment of L5/S1 lumbar intervertebral disc herniation, and found that 317 patients were treated with minimally endoscopic discectomy, percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal discectomy, or percutaneous endoscopic interlaminar discectomy.
Surgical Approaches and Outcomes
Different surgical approaches have been developed to treat L5-S1 intervertebral disc herniations, including:
- Minimally invasive transmuscular approach 1
- Laparoscopic L5-S1 diskectomy 2
- Endoscopic interlaminar approach 3
- Transpars approach 4
- Minimally endoscopic discectomy, percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal discectomy, and percutaneous endoscopic interlaminar discectomy 5 These studies demonstrate that surgical intervention can be an effective treatment option for L5-S1 intervertebral disc herniations, with various approaches offering different advantages and disadvantages.