Discectomy is the removal of a part of the spongy disc between vertebrae in your spine, and is used to relieve the pain caused by disc disorders (herniated or ruptured discs), in which disc material is bulging out and pressing on the nearby nerves. "-ectomy" means removal
Discectomy has typically been performed surgically, but technological advancements have made it possible to perform discectomy percutaneously, which requires only a tiny incision that does not require stitches and heals very quickly. "percutaneous" means "through the skin"
Nucleoplasty is a discectomy in which material is removed from the center of the disc. Our doctors perform two types of discectomy: percutaneous nucleoplasty and DISC Nucleoplasty.
DISC Nucleoplasty is a specific type of percutaneous nucleoplasty that uses Coblation©, an innovative plasma technology that can remove tissue from the disc with the DISC Nucleoplasty SpineWand, which is inserted through a hollow needle that is guided into the disc with fluoroscopy (live x-ray).
DISC Nucleoplasty and percutaneous nucleoplasty are needle-based procedures that are performed in our freestanding facility. The procedure takes about an hour and no overnight stay is required.