Choice of treatment modalities for lumbar disc herniation

Lumbar intervertebral disc herniation is a common and frequent clinical disease, accounting for more than 1/3 of orthopedic outpatient clinics, and is the main cause of back pain and leg pain, and in recent years, with the accelerated pace of life and lifestyle changes, the disease is on the rise and the trend of youth, which seriously affects the life and work of patients. The author summarizes the treatment methods for lumbar disc herniation as follows to facilitate the selection of patients. The treatment of lumbar disc herniation is broadly divided into three categories: non-surgical treatment, minimally invasive treatment and surgical treatment. I. Non-surgical treatment About 80% to 90% of patients can achieve good results after systematic non-surgical treatment. The basic treatment mechanism is to reduce the pressure on the disc, change the contact between the apex of the herniated object and the nerve root, improve the blood circulation inside and outside the spinal canal, eliminate sterile inflammation and edema, etc. to achieve the treatment purpose. The indications are: patients with the first attack; patients with multiple attacks but with mild symptoms, no significant neurological impairment, and small imaging protrusions; and patients who cannot perform surgery due to systemic diseases and local skin diseases. Minimally invasive treatment Minimally invasive surgical methods currently used in clinical practice include percutaneous chemical nucleolysis, percutaneous ozone injection (PLMOL), percutaneous intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET), percutaneous plasma nucleus pulposus cryoablation (CN), percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD), percutaneous percutaneous disc removal (PLD), percutaneous automatic disc dissection and aspiration (APLD), and percutaneous endoscopic disc decompression (PLDD). The first seven of these can be summarized as percutaneous intra-disc “blind cut” therapy, while the last two can be summarized as percutaneous intra- and extra-disc microscopic surgery. The first seven types of “blind incision” therapy are minimally invasive intradiscal surgeries, the treatment principle of which is basically percutaneous puncture into the central area of the intervertebral disc, through the physicochemical action of drugs, temperature, laser, etc., to solidify, dissolve or vaporize the intervertebral disc, or to remove the intervertebral disc by placing a suction cutter, to achieve a reduction in the total volume of the intervertebral disc, so that The total volume of the intervertebral disc is reduced, resulting in narrowing of the intervertebral space and relaxation of the nerve roots, and indirect decompression is achieved, rather than direct decompression. The advantage of this procedure is that there is no interference with the spinal canal, no scar formation in the spinal canal and no complications such as nerve root adhesions, but the disadvantage is that the nerve root cannot be decompressed directly. The indications are: acute simple, inclusive disc herniation (posterior longitudinal ligament and annulus fibrosus are not ruptured), among which IDET and CN are most suitable for discogenic low back pain, PLDD is most suitable for young bulging type patients, MED surgery can even treat some non-inclusive disc herniation. According to the size of surgery and the scope of resection, there are open surgery disc removal, half laminectomy disc removal and total laminectomy disc removal. The indications are: the duration of the disease is more than six months; the symptoms are not relieved after at least 4 weeks of regular conservative treatment; the pain is particularly severe, the patient is unable to sleep and has difficulty moving, and is in a forced position; there is a single nerve palsy or cauda equina syndrome; the combined spinal canal or lateral saphenous fossa stenosis; the imaging data shows that the disc is herniated in the intervertebral foramen or very lateral type.