Background. A detailed study of the types of structure of Kambin’s triangle plays a critical role in preventing complications when performing transforaminal endoscopic discectomy for lumbar intervertebral disc herniations.

OBJECTIVE

To study the endoscopic anatomy of the Kambin triangle.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study included 95 medical records of respondents (35 (36.8%) males, 60 (63.2%) females, patient ages ranged from 21 to 72 years), who underwent transforaminal endoscopic discectomy for herniated lumbar intervertebral discs. The gender, age of the patients, the level of the operated spinal motion segment, the type of structure of the Kambin’s triangle and the average value of the angles in the Kambin’s triangle were assessed.

RESULTS

There are 4 main types of structure of the Kambin’s triangle: type 1 — abnormal triangle, type 2 — small normal triangle, type 3 — medium normal triangle and type 4 — large normal triangle. The most common type of structure of Kambin’s triangle was type 3, which was found in 64 (67.3%) patients. Type 2 triangle structure occurred in 15 (15.8%) cases, type 4 in 10 (10.5%) cases, and type 1 in 6 (6.4%) patients. For the abnormal triangle (type 1) the mean angles were 5.40, for the small normal triangle (type 2) 13.10, for the medium normal triangle (type 3) 33.40 and for the large normal triangle (type 4) the mean the value of the angles in it was 39.30.

CONCLUSION

The information presented significantly clarifies and complements the existing understanding of the intravital topographic anatomy of the intervertebral foramen, which will significantly reduce the risk of damage to neural structures when performing transforaminal endoscopic discectomy.