Better Herniated Disc Surgery

LOS ANGELES (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- A thoracic herniated disc can happen because of disease or normal wear and tear. Fixing the problem is often dangerous because surgeons have to operate very close to the spinal cord. But now, new technology is making the procedure safer and more precise.

Managing a busy office means Steven Girod spends a lot of his day walking, sitting and bending -- easy tasks now, but they weren't a few months ago.

"I had tremors in my legs and hands, and it was just really difficult to even sit at the computer for a period of time," Girod says. And by the end of the day, he couldn't even feel his feet.

"I was driving at that time 55 miles to work. And definitely couldn't feel the pedals of the car," he says.

Girod had a thoracic herniated disc. It happens when parts of the spine bulge or rupture. Neurosurgeon J. Patrick Johnson, M.D., says surgery to remove the problem spot can be risky.

"We don't know whether we're a millimeter or a centimeter away from the spinal cord," Dr. Johnson, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, tells Ivanhoe. And just one false move can cause paralysis.

But now Dr. Johnson is the only surgeon in the United States to use computer-image guidance and endoscopic technology in the operating room. He says, "It allows us precision, accuracy and speed."

The computer program creates 3-D pictures that allow Dr. Johnson to see exactly where he needs to drill to remove the bulge. It's accurate within 2 millimeters of the right spot. Before this technology, surgeons had to make an educated guess about where to place their instruments.

"I can't imagine not using it, the way that we had to before," Dr. Johnson says.

Girod had the procedure six months ago. "I can bend over," he says. "I have no tremors anymore." And he's able to do all the little things he once took for granted.

Right now, only Dr. Johnson and one other surgeon in France are performing the procedure that uses these technologies. So far, Dr. Johnson has performed about 50 surgeries this way. He says he hopes to perform cervical and lumbar spine surgeries with the technology in the future.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Karen Fabac, RN
Institute for Spinal Disorders
Cedars Sinai Medical Center
444 S. San Vicente Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 423-9276
http://www.csmc.edu/spine