Percutaneous Lumbar Discectomy for Lumbar Disc Herniation.

Percutaneous discectomy is a new method for lumbar disc herniation that replaces traditional surgical treatment. This procedure is simple, safe and only slightly invasive since it causes no direct damage to the dura or nerve roots. For this technique, we develope a nucleotome probe with a rotating electric shaver (3mm in diameter) and applied it to 119 patients with disc herniation who had not been relieved of sciatica in spite of conservative treatment. The result is evaluated as effective in 95 patients (79.8%) with excellent results in patients with protrusion or prolapse type herniation and slight disc degeneration. We presume from the findings of MRI that the pain relief is achieved by the reduction of the herniated disc resulting in decompression of the nerve root.