Percutaneous lumbar discectomy. Technique and clinical result.

Lumbar disc herniation was treated by percutaneous discectomy using a new instrument for automatic aspiration and cutting of disc material. The inclusion criteria were limited to patients with pure disc herniation without stenosis or any other additional factors. Only contained hernias with a maximum size of 50% of the thecal sac were included. Three procedures out of 45 were technical failures. At 1-year follow-up 69% of the patients were satisfied. No complications were seen. The result was not influenced by the amount of disc material removed, age, duration of symptoms or the size of the disc hernia. Reduced size of disc hernia was found in 13 out of 14 satisfied patients followed by CT. All unsatisfied were conventionally operated on. The percutaneous treated patients had 1 day of hospitalisation and on average 11 weeks of sick-leave compared to an average of 6 days and 16 weeks following conventional discectomy.