Spine Surgery: An Internet audience will be able to view a live DISC Nucleoplasty procedure for percutaneous disc decompression performed on a patient with a contained disc herniation by Dr. Peter Gerszten, Assistant Professor of Neurological Spine Services at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center on Friday, January 14th at 4pm ET.
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, about one in every 50 people experiences a herniated disc, which may present with leg and/or back pain and be debilitating to patients. For those who don't respond to non-surgical treatments (including a short period of rest, anti-inflammatory medications to reduce the swelling, analgesic drugs to control the pain, physical therapy, exercise or epidural steroid injection therapy), surgery may seem to be the only option. Before deciding to go under the knife, patients may want to consider a percutaneous disc decompression or DISC Nucleoplasty.