Endoscopic spinal surgery has gained increasing popularity over the past 10 years. Its muscle-preserving nature, reduction in postoperative pain, and lower complication rates have contributed to the growing number of surgeons adopting this technique year after year. This same progression has led to the application of the technique in oncological pathology, primarily for separation surgeries and biopsies of extradural lesions. However, reports in the literature on the use of this technique to treat intradural spinal tumors remain scarce. To present a case report of a patient with an intradural lesion, compatible with schwannoma, successfully removed using a fully endoscopic technique. A 46-year-old female patient presented with a long-standing history of low back pain and bilateral leg pain. The pain worsened over the past few months before her initial presentation. She also reported experiencing weakness in her feet and intermittent hypesthesia in her legs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a small intradural extramedullary tumor at the L1 level. Given the patient’s young age, the tumor location at the thoracolumbar junction, and the rather small tumor size, a full-endoscopic approach was selected and performed. A step-by-step video of the surgical technique is provided with the manuscript. The current follow-up period is 2.5 years, with the patient remaining asymptomatic. The most recent follow-up MRI, conducted 16 months after the surgery, indicated no signs of recurrence. To our knowledge, this is the first video report providing a step-by-step description of this procedure. More high-quality evidence is needed to properly evaluate the safety and outcomes of this technique.

Endoscopic spinal surgery has gained increasing popularity over the past 10 years. Its muscle-preserving nature, reduction in postoperative pain, and lower complication rates have contributed to the growing number of surgeons adopting this technique year after year. This same progression has led to the application of the technique in oncological pathology, primarily for separation surgeries and biopsies of extradural lesions. However, reports in the literature on the use of this technique to treat intradural spinal tumors remain scarce. To present a case report of a patient with an intradural lesion, compatible with schwannoma, successfully removed using a fully endoscopic technique. A 46-year-old female patient presented with a long-standing history of low back pain and bilateral leg pain. The pain worsened over the past few months before her initial presentation. She also reported experiencing weakness in her feet and intermittent hypesthesia in her legs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a small intradural extramedullary tumor at the L1 level. Given the patient’s young age, the tumor location at the thoracolumbar junction, and the rather small tumor size, a full-endoscopic approach was selected and performed. A step-by-step video of the surgical technique is provided with the manuscript. The current follow-up period is 2.5 years, with the patient remaining asymptomatic. The most recent follow-up MRI, conducted 16 months after the surgery, indicated no signs of recurrence. To our knowledge, this is the first video report providing a step-by-step description of this procedure. More high-quality evidence is needed to properly evaluate the safety and outcomes of this technique.

Endoscopic spinal surgery has gained increasing popularity over the past 10 years. Its muscle-preserving nature, reduction in postoperative pain, and lower complication rates have contributed to the growing number of surgeons adopting this technique year after year. This same progression has led to the application of the technique in oncological pathology, primarily for separation surgeries and biopsies of extradural lesions. However, reports in the literature on the use of this technique to treat intradural spinal tumors remain scarce. To present a case report of a patient with an intradural lesion, compatible with schwannoma, successfully removed using a fully endoscopic technique. A 46-year-old female patient presented with a long-standing history of low back pain and bilateral leg pain. The pain worsened over the past few months before her initial presentation. She also reported experiencing weakness in her feet and intermittent hypesthesia in her legs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a small intradural extramedullary tumor at the L1 level. Given the patient’s young age, the tumor location at the thoracolumbar junction, and the rather small tumor size, a full-endoscopic approach was selected and performed. A step-by-step video of the surgical technique is provided with the manuscript. The current follow-up period is 2.5 years, with the patient remaining asymptomatic. The most recent follow-up MRI, conducted 16 months after the surgery, indicated no signs of recurrence. To our knowledge, this is the first video report providing a step-by-step description of this procedure. More high-quality evidence is needed to properly evaluate the safety and outcomes of this technique.

Objective: Endoscopic spine surgery is an emerging technique of minimally invasive spine surgery. However, headache, seizure, and autonomic dysreflexia are possible irrigation-related complications following full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy (FELD). Pressure elevation through fluid irrigation may contribute to these adverse events. A validated experimental model to investigate parameters for guideline definition is lacking. This study aimed to create an experimental setting for FELD with pressure assessments to prove the concept of repeatable and sensitive measurement of intracranial, intra- and epidural pressures during spine endoscopy. Methods: To measure intradural pressure, catheters were introduced through a sacral approach and advanced to lumbar, thoracic, and cervical levels in human cadavers. Similarly, lumbar epidural and intracranial probes were placed. The dural sac was filled with Ringer solution to a physiologic pressure of 15 cmH2O. Lumbar endoscopy was performed on 3 human cadavers at the L3–4 level. Pressure changes were measured continuously at all sites and the effects of backflow-occlusion were monitored. Results: Reproducibility of the experimental model was validated with catheters at the correct locations and stable compartmental pressure baselines at all levels for 3 specimens (mean±standard deviation: 1.3±2.9 mmHg, 9.0±2.0 mmHg, 6.0±1.2 mmHg, respectively). Pressure increase could be detected sensitively by closing the system with backflow-occlusion. Conclusion An experimental setup for feasible, repeatable, and precise pressure measurement during FELD in a human cadaveric setup has been developed. This allows investigation of the effects of endoscopic techniques and pump pressures on intra-, epidural and intracranial pressure and enables ranges of safe pump pressures per clinical situations.

Objective: Endoscopic spine surgery is an emerging technique of minimally invasive spine surgery. However, headache, seizure, and autonomic dysreflexia are possible irrigation-related complications following full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy (FELD). Pressure elevation through fluid irrigation may contribute to these adverse events. A validated experimental model to investigate parameters for guideline definition is lacking. This study aimed to create an experimental setting for FELD with pressure assessments to prove the concept of repeatable and sensitive measurement of intracranial, intra- and epidural pressures during spine endoscopy. Methods: To measure intradural pressure, catheters were introduced through a sacral approach and advanced to lumbar, thoracic, and cervical levels in human cadavers. Similarly, lumbar epidural and intracranial probes were placed. The dural sac was filled with Ringer solution to a physiologic pressure of 15 cmH2O. Lumbar endoscopy was performed on 3 human cadavers at the L3–4 level. Pressure changes were measured continuously at all sites and the effects of backflow-occlusion were monitored. Results: Reproducibility of the experimental model was validated with catheters at the correct locations and stable compartmental pressure baselines at all levels for 3 specimens (mean±standard deviation: 1.3±2.9 mmHg, 9.0±2.0 mmHg, 6.0±1.2 mmHg, respectively). Pressure increase could be detected sensitively by closing the system with backflow-occlusion. Conclusion An experimental setup for feasible, repeatable, and precise pressure measurement during FELD in a human cadaveric setup has been developed. This allows investigation of the effects of endoscopic techniques and pump pressures on intra-, epidural and intracranial pressure and enables ranges of safe pump pressures per clinical situations.

Objective: Endoscopic spine surgery is an emerging technique of minimally invasive spine surgery. However, headache, seizure, and autonomic dysreflexia are possible irrigation-related complications following full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy (FELD). Pressure elevation through fluid irrigation may contribute to these adverse events. A validated experimental model to investigate parameters for guideline definition is lacking. This study aimed to create an experimental setting for FELD with pressure assessments to prove the concept of repeatable and sensitive measurement of intracranial, intra- and epidural pressures during spine endoscopy. Methods: To measure intradural pressure, catheters were introduced through a sacral approach and advanced to lumbar, thoracic, and cervical levels in human cadavers. Similarly, lumbar epidural and intracranial probes were placed. The dural sac was filled with Ringer solution to a physiologic pressure of 15 cmH2O. Lumbar endoscopy was performed on 3 human cadavers at the L3–4 level. Pressure changes were measured continuously at all sites and the effects of backflow-occlusion were monitored. Results: Reproducibility of the experimental model was validated with catheters at the correct locations and stable compartmental pressure baselines at all levels for 3 specimens (mean±standard deviation: 1.3±2.9 mmHg, 9.0±2.0 mmHg, 6.0±1.2 mmHg, respectively). Pressure increase could be detected sensitively by closing the system with backflow-occlusion. Conclusion An experimental setup for feasible, repeatable, and precise pressure measurement during FELD in a human cadaveric setup has been developed. This allows investigation of the effects of endoscopic techniques and pump pressures on intra-, epidural and intracranial pressure and enables ranges of safe pump pressures per clinical situations.