A History of Endoscopic Lumbar Spine Surgery: What Have We Learnt?

The new development and finally the general acceptance of surgical techniques among the worldwide surgical community sometimes create fascinating stories. This is also true for the history of endoscopic lumbar spine surgery. In the last 100 years there was a “natural” evolution of surgical techniques with continuous improvement and “refinement” of lumbar decompression techniques towards less invasive operations with the final “endpoint” of microsurgery. However the application of percutaneous, image-guided, and endoscopic technologies has revolutionized minimally invasive surgery. This article describes the history of endoscopic lumbar spine surgery and its major milestones and protagonists which have helped to make endoscopic lumbar spine surgery “disruptive” minimally invasive surgical technology which has changed the world of lumbar decompression surgery. “The past is the mother of the future” Henri Cartier Bresson, French Photographer, 1908-2004