Treatment alternatives

Laminectomy

Laminectomy is the classic surgery method used to remove an herniated lumbar disc. Is the most common used procedure to relief this kind of diseases and the technique goes as follows:

An incision is made in the neck, usually 2 inch long and to the right of the midline.
Muscles that cover the back side of the spinal canal (also known as Lamina) are separated from the bone.
A small window is drilled on the lamina that covers the discal hernia.
The affected nerve root is identified, and it's made aside to expose the hernia itself.
The disc material is removed, and the incision is closed by restoring the anatomical layers as they were.

Main Disadvantages of this technique:

Postoperatory healing time is quite long for this technique. It takes 3 to 5 days for patients to get up walking, and they're discharged home 1 to 2 weeks after operation. Most patients experiment total pain relief, but recovering time of motive functions may vary, and sometimes it can be necesary rehabilitation therapy. Rest can vary from 2 to 4 months and even in some cases it can extend to 6 months.

On the other hand, the manipulation of nerves takes place in some patients the so called "epidural fibrosis", or kind of a faulty internal scar that would come to compress the affected nerves even more that what compressed the discal hernia. This is only in a percentage and there is no way of knowing what patient will develop this feared sequel; also it is possible that a instability of the spine takes place in the operated level by the elimination of a part of the operated vertebras, this makes that in some cases it is necessary the placement of metallic badges and screws to fix or to stabilize the column in the operated area.

Percutaneous Disectomy

Method Statistics

Centro Médico Guerra Mendez, Torre "D" nivel Mezzanina Consultorio 003 - Calle Rondón, Valencia 2001 - Edo. Carabobo - Venezuela. Telefonos: (+58 241) 859-6454 - Directo: (+58 241) 856-1154 - Celular: (+58 414) 340-2116 Fax: (+58 241) 859-7083 Email: salim@daher.com.ve

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