SynthesisFrontiers in surgery2025
Efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided compared to x-ray-guided percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy in China: a systematic review and pooled analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Comparative Analysis of Ultrasound versus Fluoroscopy-Guided Transforaminal Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy: Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial Targeting Lumbar Disc Herniation.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Novel anatomical landmark guided puncture method in L4/L5 spine posterior interlaminar endoscopic surgery: a technical note and case series.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) has become the preferred minimally invasive surgical treatment for lumbar disc herniation. This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided PELD compared to x-ray-guided PELD. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Ovid:MEDLINE, Embase, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases up to August 2024. Studies were included if they compared ultrasound- and x-ray-guided PELD in patients with lumbar disc herniation. Risk of bias and quality of evidence were assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tools and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4. Results: Seven studies were included, for a total of 767 patients (383 who underwent ultrasound-guided PELD and 384 who underwent x-ray-guided PELD). Ultrasound guidance significantly reduced fluoroscopy shots, radiation dose, fluoroscopy time, and working channel establishment time compared to x-ray guidance. Ultrasound guidance also demonstrated higher one-time puncture success rates. No significant differences were found in overall operative time, complications, postoperative pain scores (visual analog scale), or long-term functional outcomes (oxygen desaturation index and satisfaction rates). Conclusions: Ultrasound-guided PELD significantly reduces radiation exposure and improves puncture efficiency compared to x-ray-guided techniques while maintaining equivalent clinical outcomes and complication rates. However, due to study limitations, including small sample sizes and geographical concentration of research, further multicenter randomized controlled trials are necessary to validate these findings across diverse populations and surgical settings.
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