• Zuowei Wang, Fengzeng Jian, Zan Chen, Hao Wu, Xingwen Wang, Wanru Duan, Kai Wang, Jian Guan, and Zhenlei Liu.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Neurospine Center, China International Neuroscience Institute, Beijing, China. Electronic address: wzw6855@163.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2022 Feb 1; 158: e598-e604.

ObjectiveTo examine the surgical procedure for and the clinical efficacy of using spinal endoscopy for sacral Tarlov cyst treatment.MethodsA retrospective analysis of patients with sacral Tarlov cysts who underwent spinal endoscopy treatment from August 2018 to January 2020 at the Department of Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, China, was carried out.ResultsSpinal endoscopy treatment was performed in 15 patients with sacral Tarlov cysts (6 males, 9 females). Mean patient age was 41.3 years (range, 19-67 years). Mean follow-up period was 15.6 months (range, 12-26 months). Clinical presentations of patients included sacrococcygeal and lower limb pain (n = 14), paresthesia (n = 7), lower limb motor disorder (n = 1), bowel dysfunction (n = 4), and urinary dysfunction (n = 3). Surgeries were successfully completed in all patients. Pain was significantly alleviated after surgery in 12 (85.7%) patients. Visual analog scale scores before surgery, at 1 day and 3 months after surgery, and at last follow-up were 5.9 ± 1.2, 2.9 ± 1.5, 2.3 ± 1.3, and 2.6 ± 1.0. The postoperative visual analog scale scores were significantly decreased compared with the preoperative score (all P < 0.01). Among the patients with paresthesia, 4 (57.1%) experienced improved symptoms. Muscle strength recovered from grade 4 to grade 5 after surgery in 1 patient with lower limb motor disorder. Two (50%) of 4 patients with bowel dysfunction and 2 (66.7%) of 3 patients with urinary dysfunction experienced functional improvement. Postoperative magnetic resonance imaging showed that cyst filling was satisfactory, and cyst recurrence was not observed.ConclusionsSpinal endoscopy shows preliminary clinical efficacy for treatment of sacral Tarlov cysts and is safe and effective.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

20 keywords...

hide…