Nucleoplasty

[sportsnut3007]

Does anybody have any information on the nucleoplasty procedure? I already know it obviously decreases disc height, but what are the long term effects of making a few small little holes for the "wand" to go in to disintegrate some of the nucleus material to decrease the bulge. Are there any studies that show making these tiny little holes make the annulus that much weaker? Has anybody had this procdure? Also, if anybody has any information on whether or not the disc bulges again? To sum all this up, is it worth it for bulge in the disc causing mild sciata and mild back pain, or will the disc just bulge again and the annulus got penetrated for no good effect? Thanks for any info and i think I will end every post now saying, come on down nucleus injection replacement that is fda approved lol.

[KBear]

Let me say that I don't know much of anything about this procedure; but it sounds similar to an IDET. I had an IDET in October of 06 to 'seal a tear' in my disc. After waiting for 1 year for the results and getting none, I switched doctors. My diagnosis then was, DDD post-IDET. As in, they were attributing my DDD to the IDET. I may be completely wrong in comparing the two; but I would definitely do lots of research before having one done.

Best of Luck,
Kathy

[Justin]

Hi Sportsnut,

Here's a link to a recent Systematic Review of Nucleoplasty (Percutaneous Discectomy):

Automated Percutaneous Lumbar Discectomy for the Contained Herniated Lumbar Disc: A Systematic Assessment of Evidence

Make sure to read the discussion in the publication above. The good news is that percutaneous discectomy has been refined greatly over the last 30 years, especially in a select patient population.