Slipped Disc (continued)
How are repeated attacks treated?
Repeated attacks or enduring symptoms need more radical treatment and these may be grouped in to three treatment pathways; Conservative Therapy, Conventional Open Surgery and Endoscopic Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery.
- Conservative therapy consists of Muscle Balance Physiotherapy, injection, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and coping courses, plus a restricted lifestyle, and the hope that the symptoms will abate over time.
- Conventional Open Surgery, whilst not without risk altogether, carries greater risk and cannot guarantee success. The surgical options are tabulated below.
- Endoscopic Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery has shown encouraging results in over 80% of 3.800 procedures carried out. This includes patients treated for Slipped discs, Failed Back Surgery, Failed Fusion Surgery, Spine Instability, Chronic Lumbar Spondylosis and Back pain, Lateral Recess Stenosis and Axial Stenosis, Spondylolytic Spondylolisthesis and Disc infections. In addition, our current and yet incomplete survey of patients operated upon 10 years ago is proving surprisingly encouraging.
| Procedure |
Complications |
Success at Year 2 |
| Microdiscectomy |
6% (Recurrent Protrusion 3 – 17%) |
Leg pain but not back pain 90% |
| Open Decompression |
8% (Instability and scarring) |
Poor data @ 75% |
| Instrumented Fusion |
11 – 18% (International Controlled Trials) |
60% |
| Total Disc Replacement |
16 – 45% |
50% |
| Interspinous Spacers |
Spinous process fractures, settlement, infection |
Insufficient data |
| Endoscopic Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (Transforaminal) |
2.4% |
80% |