A Prospective, Randomized Study Comparing the Results of Open Discectomy with Those of Video-Assisted Arthroscopic Microdiscectomy*†

The usefulness of video-assisted arthroscopic microdiscectomy for the treatment of a herniated lumbar disc has been studied previously. In the current prospective, randomized study, the results of this procedure were compared with those of conventional open laminotomy and discectomy.Sixty patients who had objective evidence of a single intracanalicular herniation of a lumbar disc caudad to the first lumbar vertebra were randomized into two...