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  • Updated 07.06.2024
  • Released 09.02.2012
  • Expires For CME 07.06.2027

Percutaneous treatment of cervical and lumbar disc herniations

Introduction

Overview

Percutaneous treatment of cervical and lumbar disc herniations involves several image-guided techniques meant to ablate protruding intervertebral discs. These techniques use a trocar, so various chemical, thermal, or mechanical ablative devices can be administered inside the nucleus pulposus. These procedures allow the surgeon to remove discs compressing over nerve roots. With these techniques, there is little damage to surrounding tissues. Tubular discectomy and percutaneous endoscopic discectomy are the two most commonly employed minimally invasive surgical techniques, along with lumbar discectomy. Biportal percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy is a better technique than uniportal endoscopic minimally invasive microsurgery in patients with foraminal, lumbar canal stenosis, and paracentral disc herniations. Percutaneous intervertebral disc coagulation technique is a modality that is used for the treatment of lumbar and cervical disc hernias resistant to conservative therapy. Intradiscal injection of gelified ethanol has been found satisfactory in managing both lumbar and cervical discs. A study showed that percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy with platelet-rich plasma injection significantly improved pain, disability, disc height, and reduced recurrence. Robot-assisted systems will make percutaneous spinal procedures more accurate and efficient and reduce the risk of injury to vital blood vessels and nerves. Local anesthesia (versus general anesthesia) was found to be an effective pain relief method during percutaneous interlaminar endoscopic discectomy, ensuring operational safety without increased postoperative complications. The author explains the use of minimally invasive percutaneous thermal techniques, such as radiofrequency or laser nucleotomy, to treat disc herniations. Indications, contraindications, and advantages of these technologies are described.

Key points

• Disc herniation is a common health problem with important social and economic consequences.

• Percutaneous disc decompression should be considered after 6 weeks of conservative management with anti-inflammatories, physical therapy, and fluoroscopy-guided steroid infiltration.

• Radiofrequency nucleoplasty and laser decompression are less invasive than open surgery but can only be performed in contained disc herniations.

• Pain relief has been reported in up to 80% of selected patients treated with percutaneous disc decompression.

• Minimally invasive techniques, such as radiofrequency nucleoplasty and percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD), have challenged open surgical management of discogenic back pain. However, microdiscectomy is still considered the “gold standard” treatment.

Historical note and terminology

Percutaneous treatment of small- to medium-sized disc herniations aims to reduce the intradiscal pressure in the nucleus. The purpose of these techniques is to remove a small amount of central nucleus pulposus by using a variety of chemical, thermal, and mechanical approaches.

In 1934, William Jason Mixter and Joseph Barr elucidated the pathophysiological features of “lumbago” or “sciatica” (38). Since then, multiple therapeutic approaches have been developed. Discectomy is the historical mainstay in treating disc herniation refractory to conservative management; however, minimally invasive alternative procedures continue to evolve. In 1963, Smith and collaborators introduced chemonucleolysis with chymopapain to treat sciatica and proved the concept of disc decompression to relieve pain due to disc herniation (52). Although the technique showed good results with a 70% to 80% success rate, it has been withdrawn because of the high rate of adverse reactions due to leakage toward the epidural space.

Parallel to the decreased use of chemonucleolysis, new percutaneous techniques evolved. In 1975, Hijikata and collaborators performed a percutaneous nucleotomy by inserting a 7-mm diameter tube into the disc annulus (27). Open lumbar microdiscectomy was popularized 3 years later by Williams; technological advances allowed soft-tissue retraction through a small surgical corridor (57). In 1983, Kambin and Gellman utilized forceps through a 6.5-mm outer diameter sheath to perform a posterolateral discectomy of the lumbar spine, which eventually represented a modified arthroscopic approach to discectomy (28). Increased understanding of the arthroscopic anatomy of the foraminal and extraforaminal regions and the description of radiographic landmarks on the dorsolateral annulus combined with the availability of small-caliber fiber optic rods have led to the booming of arthroscopic spine surgery (29).

In 1985, Onik and collaborators reported using a 2 mm diameter suction and cutting probe for automated percutaneous nucleotomy (42). Two years later, Onik reported using this technique in 20 patients with herniated discs (37). This new probe was similar to the automated vitrectomy instrumentation used by ophthalmic surgeons. Eighty percent of patients had good to excellent results in a short-term follow-up period of 6 months. Four patients subsequently required standard surgical excision of free disc fragments. The technique rapidly reached the same popularity as chemonucleolysis because of its safety and good results. However, the percentage of success with this procedure did not exceed 65%, similar to what has been obtained with conservative management. Therefore, the method has progressively been abandoned (43). However, new technologies like laser and radiofrequency have adopted the concept of accessing the annulus fibrosus with a probe to relieve pressure.

The idea of using laser to treat lumbar disc herniations arose in the early 1980s (49). Laser-assisted percutaneous discectomy was first reported in 1984 (02). After a series of in vitro experiments, Choy and colleagues performed the first percutaneous laser disc decompression on a human patient in February 1986 (12). The United States Food and Drug Administration approved percutaneous laser disc decompression in 1991, and by 2002 over 35,000 percutaneous laser disc decompressions had been performed worldwide (51).

Since 2002, new probes have paved the way for intradiscal electrothermal annuloplasty for patients with chronic discogenic back pain. In 2004, Tsou and collaborators performed a posterolateral transforaminal selective endoscopic discectomy and thermal annuloplasty in a group of 113 patients (54). This technique allows direct visualization and targeting of the disc nucleus and annular fissures. The concept is that annular defects are the focal points of chronic exposure between neural sensory receptors in the defect and the nucleus pulposus. Therefore, radiofrequency thermal annuloplasty was used to interrupt the annular defect pain sensitization process. A total of 49 (43%) patients had good outcomes.

In 2010, Lee and Kang described favorable outcomes for carefully selected groups of patients with discogenic low back pain treated by percutaneous endoscopic laser annuloplasty (33). The main benefit of this hybrid technique is that the procedure can provide decompression and thermal annuloplasty at the same time. A 90% success rate in pain reduction was reported in 30 patients treated at a single level. No procedure-related complications were reported.

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