Kim DH, Choi G, Lee SH. Endoscopic Spine Procedures. Thieme Medical Publishers 2011, 279 pages, $149.95.
This is a 20-chapter hardcover book with an accompanying DVD that is dedicated to the step-by-step demonstration of the endoscopic treatment of disc herniations in all anatomic segments of the spine. Given the increasing emphasis on the development and implementation of minimally invasive surgical approaches for spinal pathologies, this book provides an important reference for those interested in one aspect of minimally invasive spine surgery, namely percutaneous endoscopic discectomy.
The text is organized into an introductory section followed by three sections corresponding to cervical, thoracic, and lumbar approaches. The introductory section provides the reader with a detailed historical account of the development of percutaneous discectomy as well as laser-based techniques. This is followed by chapters containing descriptions of commercially available endoscopy systems, including the Yeung Endoscopic Spine System (YESS) and the Vertebris systems, as well as an introduction to the basics of YAG, CO2 and Potassium-Titanyl-Phosphate lasers and endoscopic instruments. Each chapter is organized into bulleted points of information with corresponding pictures and diagrams.
The text then moves to three sections dedicated to cervical, thoracic, and lumbar approaches. Each section is further organized into a surgically relevant anatomical introduction, a detailed presentation of the surgical technique, and then concludes with actual case examples and discussions of potential complications and complication management strategies. The section on lumbar endoscopic discectomy is further divided into transforaminal, extraforaminal, and interlaminar approaches allowing for successful treatment of a wide anatomical range of herniated disc presentations. All chapters remain in the bulleted format allowing for the step-by-step description of the techniques. Ample images and drawings are included to aid with the description of the techniques.
The text definitely achieves the stated goal of the authors to provide ample images to “provide substantial insight for the nascent and seasoned surgeon alike”. The chapters on surgical techniques are particularly well illustrated. Key steps are illustrated with representative drawings, corresponding intra-operative radiographs, and then endoscopic images. Using the bulleted text, the reader can reference each step with a relevant image. At times the endoscopic images in the text can be challenging to orient and decipher. Fortunately, the supplementary material on the DVD contains live surgical videos with endoscopic videos that are significantly easier to interpret. Additionally, a major strength of the text is that a significant portion of the text is dedicated to actual case presentations. These examples are thoroughly presented with pre-operative MRI and CT images, intra-operative radiographs and endoscope images, as well as post-operative MRI images. These sections may be of particular use to physicians not familiar with the endoscopic discectomy to fully illustrate the results that can be achieved by highly trained and experienced endoscopic spine surgeons.
The authors are to be commended on providing readers with a practical, in-depth text covering endoscopic discectomy. This text will likely serve as a useful resource to physicians attempting to expand their practice into percutaneous endoscopic discectomy.
