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A Non Traumatic Discectomy is an outpatient surgical procedure to remove herniated disc material. The procedure may be performed in the operating room or special procedures room. Patients are administered a local anesthesia, consisting of an injection of anesthetic in the muscle (not a spinal block) and also IV sedation.
Then, with the help of x-ray fluoroscopy and a magnified video for guidance, a small specially designed probe is inserted through the skin of the back, between the vertebrae and into the herniated disc space. Work is done down the hollow center of the probe to remove a portion of the offending disc. The bulging disc can be pushed back into place and also disc fragments and small bone spurs can be removed.
On average, the procedure takes about 45 minutes to an hour. X-ray exposure is not significant. You normally will feel little, if any, pain or discomfort. Upon completion, the probe is removed and a small Band-Aid is placed over the very small opening. There are no stitches.
The amount of nucleus tissue removed varies, and the supporting structure of the disc is not affected by the surgery. In comparison to large incisions required for open surgery, the access route to the disc in non trauamatic surgery consists of only the probe's small opening site, usually the size of a freckle (frequently heals with no trace).
A Non Traumatic Discectomy is different from an open lumbar disc surgery because there is no traumatic back muscle dissection or cutting, no bone removal, and no significant skin incision. The risk of complications from scarring, blood loss are essentially eliminated with this procedure. Non Traumatic Discectomy was invented to be an effective treatment for herniated discs while avoiding these risks.
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