A Review of Unilateral Biportal Endoscopic Decompression for Degenerative Lumbar Canal Stenosis

The unilateral biportal endoscopic (UBE) technique provides minimally invasive decompression for degenerative lumbar canal stenosis (DLCS). With appropriate control of the hydrostatic pressure of normal saline irrigation, the surgery can be performed in a clear and magnified surgical field through 2 small surgical wounds.

A review of published literature in PubMed was performed to identify studies of UBE decompression for DLCS. The outcome measures include operation time, length of hospital stay, estimated blood loss, visual analog scale (VAS) scores for back and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and the Macnab criteria.

A total of 76 relevant studies were retrieved through the PubMed search. After screening, 15 studies comprising 6 case series, 6 comparative studies, and 3 randomized controlled trials were included in this review. Significant improvements in pain and neurological symptoms were obtained in all studies. In the 6 case series studies, the outcome measures were extracted from each study and summarized. The follow-up periods ranged from 8.6 to 29 months. The operation time was 72.0 min. The VAS score for leg pain was reduced from 7.8 to 1.7, and the VAS score for back pain was reduced from 5.8 to 1.7. The ODI was reduced from 63.0 to 20.7, and 87.3% of patients reported good to excellent outcomes according to the Macnab criteria. The complication rates ranged from 5.5% to 13.8%, with dural tear having the highest incidence rate. In the comparative studies and randomized controlled trials examining the UBE, microscopic, microendoscopic, and uniportal endoscopic techniques, the UBE technique showed treatment results that were comparable with the others. Compared with the microscopic technique, the UBE technique resulted in significantly less tissue trauma and quicker recovery with less wound pain, lower serum creatine kinase and C-reactive protein levels, and lower ODI in the very early postoperative period. The UBE technique also provided adequate decompression with less facet joint destruction than all the other decompression techniques.

The UBE technique is safe and effective for decompression of DLCS. Along with its efficacy in decompression, this technique is capable of preserving segmental stability. However, a long-term comparative study is required to verify this hypothesis.