Frequency and Outcomes of Dural Tear in Lumbar Spine Surgery

Aurangzeb Kalhoro, Abdul Ghaffar Bugti, Muhmmad Hamid Ali, Rehana Magsi

Abstract

Objective

To determine the frequency and outcome of dural tear during lumbar spine surgery for degenerative diseases.

Study design 

Descriptive cross sectional study.

Place & Duration of study

Department of Neurosurgery, Liaquat university of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, from January 2022 to June 2025.

Methods

Patients admitted through the outpatient department with degenerative lumbar spine diseases were enrolled. A total of 361 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Surgical procedures performed included laminectomy and hemilaminectomy. All patients were intraoperatively assessed for the presence of incidental durotomy, and any occurrence was appropriately identified, managed and documented. Descriptive statistics were used to present the data.

Results

There were 221 (61.2%) males and 140 (38.8%) females with male to female ratio of 1.57:1. The age of the patients was between 28 and 67 years with a mean age of 48.41±4.12 years. The incidental durotomy was detected in 14 (3.8%) patients. Out of all these cases, 8 (57.1) were related to the surgery done for lumbar spinal stenosis and 6 (42.9) were related to lumbar disc prolapse operation.

Conclusion

Dural tear was more common in patients above 45 years of age with adherent thick ligament flavum, chronic cases and female gender.

Key words 

Dural injury, Intervertebral prolapsed disc, Lumbar stenosis, Incidental durotomy.