The surgical treatment of far lateral lumbar disc herniation: 33 cases

Surgical approaches to far lateral disc herniation are challenging because of the anatomical limitations in the region. We describe an extraforaminal approach for far lateral lumbar disc herniation (FLLDH) in a group of patients and discuss the results in patients with far lateral disc protrusion or extrusion operated on by an approach to the extraforaminal region via an intertransverse route with median or paramedian incisions. The two methods are compared in terms of the pre- and postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores, duration of the operation, amount of bleeding, and long-term functional recovery. In addition, data on age, incidence, radiological features and clinical signs and symptoms are compared with reported series. Between January 2006 and January 2011,33 patients (18 females, 15 males; mean age, 51.2 years) underwent surgery for FLLDH. The majority of patients had herniation at disc levels L3-4 (12 patients) or L4-5 (15 patients). All patients were operated on via either median-paramuscular (20 patients, 61%) or paramedian-intermuscular (13 patients, 39%) approaches. Overall, the mean VAS score improved from 73 pre-operatively to 2.8 in the short-term. Analyzing the long-term functional outcome of surgery according to the MacNab Criteria, the recovery was excellent, good, fair, and poor in 18, 11, 4, and 0 patients, respectively. The far-lateral approach for FLLDH is a safe, effective procedure that avoids the risk of secondary spinal instability. In treating FLLDH, the use of a long median incision together with an extraforaminal approach is safer and less invasive than a laminectomy together with a medial or total facetectomy.