Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar spine fusion.

The advantages of the minimally invasive percutaneous approach to the lumbar intervertebral space were learned from percutaneous decompressions. Discoscopy, introduced in 1982, brought the endoscopic dimension to the intervertebral space. Percutaneous external pedicular fixation was adopted in 1988 for segmental stabilization in combination with percutaneous endoscopic preparation of the vertebral plates. The technique of percutaneous endoscopic interbody fusion, standardized since 1988, is presented and discussed with the outcome of a series of 50 patients with a mean follow up of 29 months.