Lumbar Lateral Recess Decompression: 2-Dimensional Operative Video

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Lateral recess stenosis is a common cause of lumbar radiculopathy in adults. A lumbar nerve root travels in the lateral recess prior to exiting the spinal canal via the neural foramen. In the lateral recess, the traversing nerve root is susceptible to compression by the degenerative hypertrophy of the medial facet in addition to hypertrophied ligamentum flavum and herniated intervertebral disc.1 These degenerative changes are also typically associated with neural foraminal stenosis. Surgical treatment in unilateral cases consists of hemilaminectomy, medial facetectomy, foraminotomy, and, if applicable, microdiscectomy. In this video, we present a case of a 64-yr-old male presenting with progressive left L5 radiculopathy refractory to conservative management, with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of left L4-5 foraminal and lateral recess stenosis. We demonstrate the operative steps to complete a left L4-5 hemilaminectomy, medial facetectomy, foraminotomy, and microdiscectomy. Appropriate patient consent was obtained.

Medical Subject Headings

Decompression, Surgical; Humans; Laminectomy; Lumbar Vertebrae (diagnostic imaging, surgery); Male; Middle Aged; Spinal Stenosis (diagnostic imaging, surgery)

Publication Date

9-15-2020

Publication Title

Operative neurosurgery (Hagerstown, Md.)

E-ISSN

2332-4260

Volume

19

Issue

4

First Page

E394

PubMed ID

32445564

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1093/ons/opaa134

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