[Morphological rationale for medial facetectomy during microsurgical removal of herniated lumbar disks]

The study was undertaken to provide an anatomic and morphological rationale for the use of medial facetectomy in the microsurgical treatment of herniated lumbar disks and to assess the results of performed operations. Morphological studies were conducted on corpses, by comparing coronal and transverse sections of the lumbar spine. The concept "nervous root canal" was used during the study. The detected features of the anatomical and topographic structure of the nervous root canal permitted the substantiation of the necessity and volume of medial facetectomy at different levels. When an approach is applied into the discal area, the highest and least volume of bone resection at medial facetectomy is required at the levels of L3-L4 and L5-S1, respectively. The clinical study involved an analysis of the results of microsurgical treatment of 530 patients with herniated lumbar disks. The analysis of clinical findings revealed that medial facetectomy had been used during 382 (72%) operations. When the operations were performed at different levels, the usage of this technique differs: at the levels of L3-L4, L4-L5, and L5-S1 in 30 (100%), 206 (91%), and 145 (53%) cases, respectively. The data on the usage of medial facetectomy during operations correspond to the revealed specific features of the anatomic and topographic structure of the nervous root canal at each of the operated levels.