Minimally invasive disc treatment

Introduction

Herniated disc are a common musculosketeral disorder that is affected on the one hand by continuing pain and on the other hand the disease considerably restricts the living conditions. This disorder can lead to withdrawal from professional life.

The cause is the leakage of gelatinous mass from the interior of the vertebral disc. Depending on the point where the material exits, it compresses the spinal cord, the nerve root or the exiting spinal nerve, often under servere pain.As a result, it can lead to paralysis of the areas, which supplies the nerve concerned.
The exiting material has only a volume of a few cc. The problem to remedy this defect is located in the access route. The herniated disc is on one hand surrounded by sensitive structures, like spinal cord, nerves, blood vessels, ligaments and muscles, and on the other hand from a stable skeleton. This carries half of the body but also protects the neural structures.

The herniated disc occurs in very different forms, therefore the successfull treatment requires extensive preliminary investigations. These include investigations with MRI, CT and X-ray. If it is decided that after 3-6 month of unsuccessfull conservative treatment, surgery is necessary, it requires a competent surgical planning. Intensity (Protrusion, Herniation, Sequester) Level (Lumbal, thoracal, cervical) and Position (median, paramedian, foraminal, extraforaminal) have to be located and recorded. The combination of different herniated disc options by position, intensity and level require the determination of the optimized access path, the method of operation as well as the appropriate instruments.