Description

Lumbar discectomy is a type of surgery to fix a bulging disk in the lower back. This surgery uses smaller cuts (incisions) than an open lumbar discectomy. Your backbone, or spinal column, is made up of a chain of bones called the vertebrae. Your spinal cord runs through the spinal column. The bones help protect the cord from injury. Disks sit between each vertebra to provide cushioning and support. Large nerves called nerve roots lead from the spinal cord through small holes between the bones called foramen. These nerve roots send and receive signals to and from the body. The signals are sent to and from your brain through the spinal cord. Sometimes the outer wall of one of these disks may dry out and weaken with age or injury. When this happens, the soft, inner part of the disk bulges out. This is called a herniated or bulging disk. This bulging disk can press on the nerve roots or sometimes on the spinal cord and cause symptoms such as pain, tingling, or weakness in parts of the body. During a minimally invasive lumbar discectomy, an orthopedic surgeon or neurosurgeon takes out part of the damaged disk. This helps ease the pressure on the nerve root or spinal cord. Your surgeon can use different methods to do this. With one method, your surgeon inserts a small tube through the skin on your back, between the vertebrae and into the space with the herniated disk. They then insert tiny tools through the tube to remove a part of the disk. Or a laser may be used to remove part of the disk. Unlike an open lumbar discectomy, the surgeon makes only a very small skin incision and removes little if any bone or muscle.

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