PERCUTANEOUS NUCLEOTOMY

Percutaneous nucleotomy (PN) is a non-operative, percutaneous, interve ning, radiologically controlled method for the treatment of non-seques trated herniated discs. The diagnostic criteria are CT, MR, functional myelography with myelo-CT, discography and disco-CT. Of the indicatio n for this procedure is strictly confined to patients pretreated in th e conventional way, this method yields good or very good results in ab out 75-80 % of cases. PN is performed under local anesthesia and under fluoroscopic control. Of the technical parameters are strictly observ ed, PN is considered a low-risk method. The rate of infection is lower than 1 %. Even though there are no long-term results yet, the positiv e results we have observed for 1 to 6 years suggest that this method w ill become an established method of treating herniated discs, as there is little discomfort for the patient.