Indications:

A lumbar microdiscectomy is performed for patients who have a herniated disc in the lumbar spine that is causes pressure or irritation to the exiting nerve roots.

Procedure:

The patient is placed face down and a small incision is made on the lower back to provide the surgeon access to the affected level of the spine. The surgeon will create a small window of the lamina to create his working channel to the affected and protruding herniation. The nerves are gently moved aside and the surgeon will clear away herniated portion of the disc that is causing the pain and or weakness. The surgeon leaves the remainder of the disc intact to continue serving as a cushion between the patients vertebra.

Recovery:

Patients are discharged same or next day. Light activity can resume in 1-2 weeks and with the proper physical therapy and rehabilitative plan patients can make a full recovery in 4-6 weeks.

Benefits:

This procedure is minimally disruptive to the soft tissue and muscles in your back and generally achieves excellent results. Patients can often go home same day or next morning and the road to recovery is generally shorter than most other lumbar procedures.