Percutaneous Discectomy
Percutaneous means "through the skin" or using a very small incision. Discectomy is the surgical removal of herniated disc material that presses on a nerve root or the spinal cord.
Percutaneous discectomy is different from conventional open discectomy or microdiscectomy. There are several percutaneous procedures. All of them involve inserting small instruments between the vertebrae and into the middle of the disc. X-ray monitoring is used during surgery to guide the movement of the surgical instruments. The surgeon can remove disc tissue by cutting it out, sucking out the center of the disc, or by using lasers to burn or evaporate the disc. The disc material that has herniated is not directly removed in these operations.
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