Unilateral dynamic stabilization for unilateral lumbar spinal pathologies; a new surgical concept

Minimally invasive surgical techniques for spine surgery have gained popularity over the last decade. In this study, the authors describe a unilateral dynamic stabilization for unilateral spinal pathologies.

A total of 7 patients with an average age of 46.1 years (range 21-80 years) were included in this study. They are represented various spinal pathologies (degenerative disorders, various tumor pathologies) and having undergone a unilateral facetectomy (or facetectomies) with or without a hemilaminectomy procedure were analyzed in this study. The surgical stabilization was achieved with unilateral dynamic stabilization.

The new surgical concept is described here, and the comparative early results of the Oswestry disability index (ODI) and the visual analog scale (VAS) are presented as well. The preoperative average ODI was 73.14 (range 62-94), and the average VAS was 8.14 (range 7-10). Twelve months after the surgery, ODI was 10.6 (range 0-16), and the average VAS was 1 (range 0-2) (p < 0.01).

Although the limited number of cases analyzed reflects data of only early patient outcome, the procedure is safe, feasible, and cost effective. The unilateral dynamic pedicle screw stabilization without fusion is as a technical option to avoid possible segmental instability after unilateral total facetectomy procedure.