Full-Endoscopic Unilateral Laminotomy for Bilateral Decompression Under Surgeon-Directed Local Anesthesia in Older Patients with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

Description

Yong Ahn, Sungsoo Bae, and Jae-Ouk Lee report early results of keyhole spine surgery done under local numbing in older patients, in a 2026 study. Narrowing of the lower spine canal causes leg pain and walking limits, but older patients often carry other illnesses that make general anaesthesia risky. The technique frees both sides of the canal through one entry, with the surgeon directing the local anaesthesia.

Twenty-four patients aged seventy-five and over were treated and followed for a year. Leg pain scores fell sharply, disability scores improved a lot, and about eighty-eight percent reached good or excellent outcomes. One patient had a small tear of the sac around the nerves, and four had skin numbness. No major anaesthesia problems or repeat surgeries occurred. The authors call the approach feasible in carefully chosen older patients, while asking for larger studies that compare it with general anaesthesia.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13609298