Genel Tıp Dergisi, cilt.33, sa.2, ss.194-198, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi)
Objective: The most used method in the surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is lumbar microdiscectomy (LMD). In this study, we aimed to show the relationship between Tuffier's line (TL), which is widely used in determining the L4-5 distance in lumbar spinal interventions, and LMD levels. Materials and Methods: In this study, a total of 204 patients who had LMD or had low back pain were reviewed retrospectively. According to the projection of TL at the spine level; it was divided into 5 categories as L4 corpus, L4 lower endplate, L4-5 disc space, L5 upper endplate, L5 corpus. The cases were analyzed according to age, gender, disc level and changes in TL. Results: 92.1% of the cases were operated at the L4-5 or L5-S1 level. TL was mostly at L5 upper endplate level in women, L4-5 disc space and above in men, and there was a significant relationship between TLs and gender in both groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: In our study, we found that although TLs were caudally in patients operated at L5-S1 level, they displaced cranially in patients operated at L4-5 level. However, it was observed that LDH development in the lower lumbar region and increased at the upper levels with ageing.