Percutaneous Discectomy

Percutaneous Discectomy

Percutaneous discectomy is a minimally invasive procedure that can help alleviate pain, numbness, and decreased mobility from a ruptured, herniated, or bulging disc. This technique is performed by inserting a small needle through the skin to reach the affected disc and remove disc material.

Our spine’s vertebrae are separated by discs that are designed to provide support and minimize the impact on our vertebral bones with walking and movement. As we age, these discs weaken, and may tear or rupture in the outer wall – or annulus. When a disc ruptures, its gel-like material called the nucleus is released into the spinal column, which can lead to pressure on, or irritation of the nerves and subsequently causes pain.

Percutaneous discectomy or percutaneous disc decompression removes disc material as a way to remove pressure – from the spinal nerves and thus eliminate the source of  pain. Percutaneous disc decompression might be recommended for a variety of conditions such as sciatica, a symptom of an inflamed or injured sciatic nerve roots. During the procedure, a surgeon, through fluoroscopic guidance, inserts small instruments through the skin and into the damaged disc. Small amounts of the nucleus are removed, reducing the compression of the disc and relieving neural pressure.

I offer a highly advanced percutaneous disc decompression technique called percutaneous discectomy. During this revolutionary procedure, a 3-millimeter incision is made and a thin tube is inserted, through which small surgical instruments are able to access and remove herniated discor bulging disc material. Patients are typically up and walking within an hour after the procedure, and some patients feel pain relief immediately.

UNLIKE LASER DISC SURGERY, THERE IS SIGNIFICANT SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT FOR PERCUTANEOUS DISCECTOMY:

  1. Alò KM, Wright RE, Sutcliffe J, Brandt SA. Percutaneous lumbar discectomy: one-year follow-up in an initial cohort of 50 consecutive patients with chronic radicular pain. Pain Pract. 2005; 5(2):116-23
  2. ^Alò K, Wright RE, Sutcliffe J, Brandt SA. Percutaneous lumbar discectomy: clinical response in an initial cohort of 50 consecutive patients with chronic radicular pain. Pain Practice 2004; 4:19-29
  3. ^Alò K, Wright RE, Fu ZJ. Open human torso laboratory dissection with annular and nuclear lumbar disc analysis pre and post Dekompressor®. Denver, CO: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy; January 19/20, 2003
  4. ^Wright R. Preclinical laboratory analysis of Dekompressor® percutaneous decompression in sheep and human cadaver discs: Internal Data. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University; May 2000
  5. ^Carey TS, Garrett J, Jackman A, Mclaughlin C, Fryer J, Smucker D. The outcomes and costs of care for acute low back pain among patients seen by primary care practitioners, chiropractors, and orthopedic surgeons. The North Carolina Back Pain Project. N Engl J Med. 1995 Oct 5;333(14):913-7.
  6. ^Alò K, Wright RE, Sutcliffe J, Brandt SA. Percutaneous lumbar discectomy: clinical response in an initial cohort of 50 consecutive patients with chronic radicular pain. Pain Practice 2004; 4:19-29
  7. ^Alò KM, Wright RE, Sutcliffe J, Brandt SA. Percutaneous lumbar discectomy: one-year follow-up in an initial cohort of 50 consecutive patients with chronic radicular pain. Pain Pract. 2005; 5(2):116-23
  8. ^Alò K, Wright RE, Fu ZJ. Open human torso laboratory dissection with annular and nuclear lumbar disc analysis pre and post Dekompressor®. Denver, CO: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy; January 19/20, 2003
  9. ^Wright R. Preclinical laboratory analysis of Dekompressor® percutaneous decompression in sheep and human cadaver discs: Internal Data. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University; May 2000
  10. ^Onik G, Maroon J, Helms C, Schweigel J, Mooney V, Kahanovitz N, Day A, Morris J, McCulloch JA, Reicher M. Automated percutaneous diskectomy: initial patient experience. Work in progress. Radiology. 1987 Jan;162(1 Pt 1):129-32.
  11. ^Davis, GW, Onik G. Clinical experience with automated percutaneous discectomy. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1989 Jan;(238):98-103.
  12. ^Onik G, Mooney V, Maroon JC, Wiltse L, Helms C, Schweigel J, Watkins R, Kahanovitz N, Day A, Morris J, et al. Automated percutaneous discectomy: a prospective multi-institutional study. Neurosurgery. 1990 Feb;26(2):228-32; discussion 232-3.
  13. ^Maroon JC, Onik G, Sternau L. Percutaneous automated discectomy. A new approach to lumbar surgery. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1989 Jan;(238):64-70.
  14. ^Gill K, Blumenthal SL. Clinical experience with automated percutaneous discectomy: the Nucleotome system. Orthopedics. 1991 Jul;14(7):757-60.
  15. ^Gill K, Blumenthal SL. Automated percutaneous discectomy. Long-term clinical experience with the Nucleotome system. Acta Orthop Scand Suppl. 1993; 251:30-3
  16. ^Castro WH, Jerosch J, Hepp R, Schulitz KP. Restriction of indication for automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy based on computed tomographic discography. Spine. 1992 Oct;17(10):1239-43.
  17. ^Yeo SJ, Tay BK. Clinical experience with automated percutaneous discectomy. Singapore Med J. 1993 Aug;34(4):313-5.
  18. ^Mathews R, Kent G, Miller M. APLD: A prospective study in an outpatient surgical setting. ISIS Newsletter, 1997
  19. ^Alò KM, Wright RE, Sutcliffe J, Brandt SA. Percutaneous lumbar discectomy: one-year follow-up in an initial cohort of 50 consecutive patients with chronic radicular pain. Pain Pract. 2005; 5(2):116-23
  20. ^Carragee EJ, Han MY, Yang B, Kim DH, Kraemer H, Billys J. Activity restrictions after posterior lumbar discectomy: a prospective study of outcomes in 152 cases with no postoperative restrictions. Spine. 1999 Nov 15;24(22):2346-51.
  21. ^Mariconda M, Galasso O, Secondulfo V, Rotonda GD, Milano C. Minimum 25-year outcome and functional assessment of lumbar discectomy. Spine. 2006 Oct 15;31(22):2593-9; discussion 2600-1.
  22. ^Alò KM, Wright RE, Sutcliffe J, Brandt SA. Percutaneous lumbar discectomy: one-year follow-up in an initial cohort of 50 consecutive patients with chronic radicular pain. Pain Pract. 2005; 5(2):116-23

 

 

 

The Stryker Dekompressor® is a minimally invasive disc removal system for contained disc herniations. It was designed with leading practitioners to measurably and selectively extract disc material during percutaneous discectomies without annular or nuclear disruption.
Using a patent-pending Archimede’s pump principle, Stryker’s Dekompressor provides a highly efficient method for removing intervertebral disc nucleus through the smallest available channel under fluoroscopic control.

Material removed can also be used for disc biopsies.

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