Skip to main content
Log in

Transforaminal endoscopic decompression for thoracic spinal stenosis under local anesthesia

  • Case Report
  • Published:
European Spine Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Thoracic spinal stenosis is a common vertebral degenerative disease, and treatment remains challenging. In recent years, transforaminal endoscopic decompression has been widely used for treating lumbar degenerative diseases. However, the efficacy of this procedure for thoracic spinal stenosis has yet to be established. Herein, we report a case of thoracic spinal stenosis treated with transforaminal endoscopic decompression under local anesthesia.

Case report

An 88-year-old man presented with a 1-month history of progressive paralysis and dysesthesia in the bilateral lower extremities. A diagnosis of thoracic spinal stenosis was made, based on physical examination. A two-step percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic thoracic decompression was performed for spinal canal decompression. Over a follow-up of 1 year, a favorable outcome was noted.

Conclusion

Transforaminal endoscopic decompression is a safe and an effective surgical approach for the treatment of thoracic spinal stenosis. For patients with thoracic spinal stenosis, accurate diagnosis and elaborate surgical planning should be highlighted, and the surgical outcome can be favorable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aizawa T, Sato T, Tanaka Y, Ozawa H, Hoshikawa T, Ishii Y, Morozumi N, Ishibashi K, Kasama F, Hyodo H (2006) Thoracic myelopathy in Japan: epidemiological retrospective study in Miyagi Prefecture during 15 years. Tohoku J Exp Med 210(3):199

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Epstein NE, Schwall G (1994) Thoracic spinal stenosis: diagnostic and treatment challenges. J Spinal Disord 7(3):259–269

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Dimar JR, Bratcher KR, Glassman SD, Howard JM, Carreon LY (2008) Identification and surgical treatment of primary thoracic spinal stenosis. Am J Orthoped 37(11):564–568

    Google Scholar 

  4. Chang UK, Choe WJ, Chung CK, Kim HJ (2001) Surgical treatment for thoracic spinal stenosis. Spinal Cord 39(7):362–369

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Palumbo MA, Hilibrand AS, Hart RA, Bohlman HH (2001) Surgical treatment of thoracic spinal stenosis: a 2- to 9-year follow-up. Spine 26(5):558–566

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kojima T, Waga S, Kubo Y, Matsubara T (1994) Surgical treatment of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament in the thoracic spine. Neurosurgery 34(5):854–858

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Yagi M, Hosogane N, Watanabe K, Asazuma T, Matsumoto M (2016) The paravertebral muscle and psoas for the maintenance of global spinal alignment in patient with degenerative lumbar scoliosis. Spine J 16(4):451–458

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Tsou PM, Yeung AT (2002) Transforaminal endoscopic decompression for radiculopathy secondary to intracanal noncontained lumbar disc herniations: outcome and technique. Spine J 2(1):41

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Wagner R, Iprenburg M, Telfeian AE (2016) Transforaminal endoscopic decompression of a postoperative dislocated bone fragment after a 2-level lumbar total disc replacement: case report. Neurosurg Focus 40(2):E8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Zhou Y, Zhang C, Wang J, Chu TW, Chang-Qing LI, Zhang ZF, Zheng WJ (2008) Endoscopic transforaminal lumbar decompression, interbody fusion and pedicle screw fixation—a report of 42 cases. Chin J Traumatol 11(4):225–231

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Aizawa T, Sato T, Sasaki H, Kusakabe T, Morozumi N, Kokubun S (2006) Thoracic myelopathy caused by ossification of the ligamentum flavum: clinical features and surgical results in the Japanese population. J Neurosurg Spine 5(6):514

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Moretta L, Ferrarini M, Cooper MD (2003) Study on the treatment of thoracic spinal stenosis by posterior minimal invasive decompression. Chin J Spine Spinal Cord 16(4):624–637

    Google Scholar 

  13. Okada K, Oka S, Tohge K, Ono K, Yonenobu K, Hosoya T (1991) Thoracic myelopathy caused by ossification of the ligamentum flavum. Clinicopathologic study and surgical treatment. Spine 16(3):280

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Nishiura I, Isozumi T, Nishihara K, Handa H, Koyama T (1999) Surgical approach to ossification of the thoracic yellow ligament. Surg Neurol 51(4):368–372

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Tomita K (1990) Total decompression of the spinal cord for combined ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament and yellow ligament in the thoracic spine. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 109(2):57

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Li KK, Chung OM, Chang YP, So YC (2002) Myelopathy caused by ossification of ligamentum flavum. Spine 27(12):E308–E312

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Nie ZH, Liu FJ, Shen Y, Ding WY, Wang LF (2013) Lamina osteotomy and replantation with miniplate fixation for thoracic myelopathy due to ossification of the ligamentum flavum. Orthopedics 36(3):353–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Chen ZQ, Sun CG (2015) Clinical guideline for treatment of symptomatic thoracic spinal stenosis. Orthop Surg 7(3):208–212

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Li-Tao Zhao or San-Qiang Li.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None of the authors has any potential conflict of interest.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 81571209) and the Luoyang Medical and Health Science and Technology Project (No: 1724001A-3).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jia, ZQ., He, XJ., Zhao, LT. et al. Transforaminal endoscopic decompression for thoracic spinal stenosis under local anesthesia. Eur Spine J 27 (Suppl 3), 465–471 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-018-5479-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-018-5479-2

Keywords

Navigation