Surgical treatment of spinal hernia is possible by various methods, but the most popular is discectomy. This technique is the removal of the damaged part of the intervertebral disc.
The presence of a herniated disc causes compression or irritation of the nerves that are in close proximity, and this causes weakness, pain and numbness. These symptoms can radiate to the upper and lower extremities..
For many patients suffering from pain in the neck or back, medication and physiotherapy are sufficient to alleviate. However, when this is not enough, the only option is surgery in the form of a discectomy..
There are several ways to perform this surgical intervention, in most cases, a microscope is used to qualitatively review the surgical field with a small incision. The main goal of this intervention is to eliminate the increased pressure that has formed due to a hernia and negatively affects the condition of the spinal cord and its branches..
The main indications for surgical treatment of intervertebral hernia in Israel are:
Neurological weakness in the lower extremities that prevents normal movement or sitting.
The situation when 6 or more weeks of conservative treatment did not bring the desired result.
Nerve compression caused by a fragment of a damaged disc protruding into the spinal canal.
Pain that radiates to the arms, buttocks, chest, and legs.
As for the operation itself, it is customary to perform it under general anesthesia, the agent for which is either injected into a vein or fed into a breathing mask, and a small amount of bone tissue and ligaments are removed to access the damaged disc. If possible, the surgeon removes only damaged areas that irritate the nerve. However, there are situations in which a complete disk removal is required. In this case, the resulting space is filled with a special material obtained either from the tissues of the patient himself or from a donor, which is a deceased person..
An artificial implant may also be used. Fixation of adjacent vertebrae is provided by metal clamps.
The recovery period after such an intervention takes several weeks, after which it is allowed to return to work. However, here it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the work and limit the lifting of weights, prolonged sitting and long walking..
