Thanks to Keano16 for sending me this:

Medical Laser Application
Volume 24, Issue 3, August 2009, Pages 147-157
From bench to bedside - Current and future laser applications

Twenty-three years of percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) – State of the art and future prospects

In mid-February 1986, Peter Ascher and Daniel Choy performed the first percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) at the Neurosurgical Department, University of Graz, Graz, Austria. It was planned to deliver 1000 J with a Nd:YAG laser to a herniated L4-L5 disc causing sciatica. At 600 J the procedure was terminated because the pain was gone.

Since then, PLDD has spread all over the world, with procedures being performed throughout the entire spine, with exception of T1-T4 because these discs do not permit percutaneous access with a needle. The success rate has ranged from 70% to 89%, and the complication rate, chiefly discitis, from 0.3% to 1.0%. When successful, the return to normal work is on average 1 week. The long-term follow-up of 23 years has yielded a recurrence rate of 5%.

Keywords: Laser; Disc; Decompression; Percutaneous; Herniation; Sciatica

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