Full-Endoscopic Lumbar Foraminoplasty for Symptomatic Cement Leakage with Exiting Nerve Root Impingement

Foraminal stenosis, a common disorder occurring in elderly patients, is often caused by narrowing of the foramen, resulting in the confinement of neural structures by the tissue and vertebrae. Full-endoscopic lumbar foraminoplasty (FELF) is an effective treatment option for patients with foraminal stenosis. However, to the best of our knowledge, no previous study has reported the treatment of symptomatic cement leakage. We report a case of symptomatic cement leakage treated with FELF with the patient under local anesthesia.

An 85-year-old woman was admitted to our spine unit because of lower back pain. The patient had presented with lower back pain and new-onset left thigh pain after vertebroplasty performed 3 months previously. The patient was not able to walk and was bedridden. To overcome this problem, T12 percutaneous vertebroplasty and left transforaminal L3-L4 foraminoplasty was performed with the patient under local anesthesia. After surgery, the patient was able to walk and was discharged 4 days postoperatively.

The present report has shown that FELF can successfully remove symptomatic cement leakage, resulting in pain relief.