Can minimally invasive surgical radiofrequency ablation treat lumbar disc herniation?

Radiofrequency ablation myeloplasty for lumbar disc herniation is a new minimally invasive treatment technique that has gradually developed and matured over the past decade and has been widely and safely adopted in recent years. It is suitable for numbness and pain of lower limbs and lower back pain caused by lumbar disc herniation. The purpose is to significantly reduce the intradiscal pressure and reduce the intradiscal inflammation to a certain extent after ablating a certain amount of nucleus pulposus tissue by radiofrequency energy, so as to relieve the compression and stimulation of nerve roots and their surrounding nociceptive receptors, in order to relieve or eliminate clinical symptoms. Brief procedure of treatment method: Under local anesthesia (a small amount of anesthetic drugs), a posterior lateral approach (only the size of a needle tip) is performed, and under x-ray positioning and guidance, a percutaneous puncture needle is first inserted into the herniated disc site, and after good fluoroscopy, the radiofrequency conduction fibers are then cannulated and placed, the output power is adjusted, and the emission is controlled by the foot pedal, while radiofrequency ablation is performed for 2-3 minutes on the herniated disc to reduce its pressure. Postoperative precautions: get up 1 day after surgery; get up within 3 weeks to wear a lumbar girth (can carry out daily activities and life); start functional exercise of the lumbar back muscle in 4 weeks, usually 4-6 weeks to return to sports status; avoid excessive posterior extension flexion rotation and other undesirable movements, avoid strenuous exercise. Advantages of this treatment: safe, effective, less damage, no postoperative scars or adhesion formation, and does not prevent necessary surgical procedures in the future.