What is the New Procedure for Dealing with a Ruptured Disc?

QUESTION: I know I must do something to rid myself of the pain that is
keeping me from a normal life. The physician I have been sent to informed me
that it is a "ruptured disc" that is pressing against a nerve and causing my
suffering. He wishes to use a new procedure which will suck the disc out of a
tube placed in my back, and relieve the pressure. Have you ever heard of
this, is it safe and how does it work.
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ANSWER: Your physician is describing a new technique that may be used to
treat ruptured disc called "percutaneous automated discectomy" and it could
well be the answer to your problem. A disc is a round cartilage structure
that is sandwiched between two vertebrae in our spinal column. Each disc is
composed of two parts, an outer, tough, elastic, fibrous ring, and an inner,
soft, pulpy nucleus. When the outer ring tears or breaks from pressures
exerted on it by the vertebrae, the pulpy center is squeezed out through the
break and may press upon nerves which lie just outside and next to the disc.
This condition is called a "herniated disc". Older surgical procedures
removed the disc completely and held the two adjacent vertebra in place using
a bridge of bone (laminectomy), a difficult operation, with a long recovery
period. The new procedure uses a probe-like cutting-suction device which is
passed through a small tube that has been placed against your injured disc.
Local anesthesia is used to block the pain at the site of insertion in your
back. The probe is then inserted through the fibrous ring into the pulpy
center and sucks out the nucleus of the disc, relieving the pressure. However
this procedure is only indicated where the fiber ring is stretched out of
shape, before it has torn, a situation identified on X-Ray. The operation is
successful in about 80% of the cases, and greatly reduces pain and costs.