Wockhardt Spine Centre Conducts Awake State Slipped Disc Surgery

EHM News Bureau - Mumbai

Wockhardt Spine Centre recently conducted an innovative advancement in spine surgery- Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Disectomy (PELD). The surgery is basically an awake state minimally invasive slipped disc surgery used for treating people suffering from slipped disc and requiring remedial surgery. The surgery was witnessed by more than 100 doctors.

In today’s era of fast paced life, backache is a common ailment affecting almost 60 per cent of the population. The commonest cause of backache is “prolapsed intervertebral disc”, commonly known as slipped disc. Slipped disc is a painful condition requiring, hospitalisation for an average duration of five to seven days, loss of work and earning. These are among many reasons why patients avoid surgery and suffer from pain and eventual disability.

PELD under local anesthesia is the one that makes the patient get discharged in 24 hrs. Said Dr Vikas Gupte, Spine Surgeon, Wockhardt Spine Centre, who is specialised in doing Percutaneous Endoscopic Cervical/Lumbar Discectomy, “This is an ultimate form of minimally invasive spine surgery in the sense that it requires only a six mm incision and the surgery is done under local anesthesia.”

The patient is fully awake during the surgery. The wound is closed with one stitch. Patients get immediate pain relief and may go home the next day.

Percutaneous cervical/lumbar discectomy is different from standard disc surgery because there is no muscle dissection, bone removal, bone fusion, or incision, except for a puncture wound to accommodate the micro-instruments that are inserted into the problem disc. “Most complications that occur with conventional surgery, therefore, are eliminated with this procedure. The procedure takes about 20 minutes, on an average,” informs Dr Gupte.