Lumbar Disc Microsurgery

This min­i­mal­ly inva­sive tech­nique is used to remove the her­ni­at­ed por­tion of a ver­te­bral disc. It is 95% to 98% effec­tive in elim­i­nat­ing leg pain (sci­at­i­ca) caused by nerve root com­pres­sion. The pro­ce­dure is per­formed through a small inci­sion on the back. After cre­at­ing a small inci­sion direct­ly over the her­ni­at­ed disc, the sur­geon cre­ates a small win­dow in the lam­i­na (the bone cov­er­ing the spinal canal). The pinched nerve root and the her­ni­at­ed disc can be seen through this open­ing. The sur­geon uses a nerve retrac­tor to gen­tly move the spinal nerve away from the her­ni­at­ed disc. The her­ni­at­ed por­tion of the disc is removed, elim­i­nat­ing pres­sure on the nerve root. Only the dam­aged por­tion of the disc is removed, leav­ing any healthy disc mate­r­i­al to per­form its func­tion as a cush­ion between the ver­te­brae. The tools are removed, and the spinal nerve returns to its nor­mal posi­tion. The inci­sion is closed.