Baptist Hospital East : Services - Total Joint Replacements

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A new minimally-invasive spine surgery may help some patients with painful, herniated discs.

Microendoscopic discectomy -- or MED -- is a procedure to remove the chunk of disc that has broken off and dislodged. In the procedure, the herniated disc and disc fragments are removed through a buttonhole-sized incision without as much injury to the thick muscle covering the spine as with traditional surgery.

A guide wire and then a series of progressively larger tubes are inserted through the muscle. The muscle fibers are then pushed apart, exposing the damaged disc. Through the final tube are placed the endoscope and the tools with which to see and operate.

Because there's less damage to the tissues, patients have a shorter recovery time than with traditional surgery.

MED is usually recommended only when a ruptured disc is pinching a spinal nerve root(s) and there is also one of the following present: leg pain which limits normal daily activity, weakness in the leg(s) or feet, numbness in the extremities or impaired bowel and/or bladder function. Other types of disc problems, including those requiring fusion, call for traditional surgeries.

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