Observational studyEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2025
Comparison of saline consumption between microdiscectomy, uniportal, and biportal endoscopic lumbar disc surgery: A multicenter observational study.
Observational study in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 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
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of irrigation fluid temperature on perioperative hypothermia and metabolic acidosis during unilateral biportal endoscopic spine surgery.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- No surgical site infections observed after lumbar unilateral biportal endoscopy: a multicenter retrospective series of 1566 patients.Brain & spine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
background contextThe environmental footprint of healthcare has become a growing concern, but the specific resource consumption associated with spine surgery remains largely unexplored. Despite the widespread use of continuous saline irrigation in endoscopic spine surgery, no study has previously compared the volume of saline consumption across different surgical techniques. PURPOSE: This study aims to compare saline consumption across three surgical techniques for lumbar disc herniation: classical microdiscectomy (MD), uniportal endoscopy (FE), and biportal endoscopy (UBE). STUDY DESIGN/
settingmulticenter, international, retrospective observational study. PATIENT SAMPLE: This study included 722 patients who underwent lumbar disc herniation surgery between March 2023 and September 2024. Patients were grouped based on the surgical technique used: MD (n = 127), FE (n = 253), and UBE (n = 342). OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was total saline consumption (Liters). Data collected included also demographic information and surgical duration.
methodsStatistical analyses included Kruskal-Wallis tests, pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction, ROC curve analysis, and a fixed-effects model to assess factors influencing saline consumption.
resultsSaline consumption varied significantly across techniques, with a median (IQR) of 0.08 L (0.02-0.15) for MD, 4.00 L (3.00-6.00) for FE, and 9.00 L (6.00-13.00) for UBE (p < 0.0001) FE technique consumes approximately 50 times more saline than MD, and UBE consume more than 112 times more saline than MD. No significant correlation was found between saline consumption and patient age or BMI.
conclusionEndoscopic techniques for lumbar disc herniation require substantially more saline than classical MD. This highlights the need for strategies promoting responsible resource stewardship in spine surgery. Future innovations, such as closed-loop fluid management systems, may help optimize both environmental sustainability and economic efficiency.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40820108What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.