Objective:

This study aims to report the clinical outcome of treating lumbar radiculopathy in the setting of retropulsed PEEK transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) cages with transforaminal endoscopic spine surgery.

Methods:

A retrospective study of 8 patients with lumbar radiculopathy in the setting of a retropulsed PEEK TLIF cage were included from January 2014 to January 2019. The inclusion criteria were 1) lumbar radiculopathy in the setting of a retropulsed PEEK TLIF cage causing nerve compression, and 2) follow-up at least 1 year. Patients were asked to complete the following questionnaires for outcome evaluation: visual analog scales (VAS) for leg pain and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).

Results:

Eight patients underwent transforaminal endoscopic surgery for treatment of radiculopathy in the setting of a retropulsed PEEK TLIF cage in the 5-year period evaluated. One year after surgery, the VAS and ODI scores showed a significant decrease: average pre-operative VAS and ODI scores were 6.9 ± 1.2 and 50.5 ± 10.9 and 1 year postoperative VAS and ODI scores were 2.3 ± 1.3 and 17.3 ± 5.1.

Conclusions:

Transforaminal endoscopic spine surgery for the treatment of a retropulsed PEEK TLIF cage is a safe and effective approach with low morbidity and acceptable complication rates for patients with radiculopathy secondary to a retropulsed PEEK TLIF cage. Compared with a more invasive approach to removing or drilling the PEEK TLIF cage, endoscopic spine surgery could achieve a similar improvement in the patient-reported outcomes with possibly fewer complications.