HydroCision or equivalent

[iflycozy]

I am a male, 43, never had a broken bone in life and now have MRI confirmed herniated L5-S1 disc pressing against nerve with shooting pain down back if left leg only thru buttocks, hamstring, calf and bottom of foot. Family guy and scared but all non-surgical option now lead to discectomy. Research seems to show least traumatic surgery is orthoscopic discectomy with HydroCision or waterjet equivalent. Does any neurosurgeon do that kind of surgery in or near central Kentucky? I can sit, stand or walk for 2 minutes maximum before having to lay down flat in back. Already missed 2 weeks of work. Sciatic pIn since April and getting worse. There are few neuros in CA, like David Ditsworth, Stanton Schiffer and Larry Khoo, but none in Ky. Please help me. I don't want regular "minimally invasive surgery" with any bones being drilled. Posted August 5, 20210. Matt Bunch 859-797-3164. Emails to me at matt@bunchlaw.com. Thx.

[mmglobal]

Matt, welcome to the forum.

What do you fly?

I wrote about hydrocision fusions here (I know that you are looking at discectomy, not fusion, but you may find this interesting):

http://www.ispine.org/forum/ispine/1...-data-too.html

I don't think that the "bone drilling" approach will be substantially different than other endoscopic discectomy techniques. You still have to get the scope and tools to the discectomy site.

IMHO, the key is finding someone who is REALLY good at whatever technique you choose. I would choose endoscopic over open if I needed a discectomy. However, I'd rather have an excellent open discectomy than a mediocre endoscopic.

I have observed surgeries with a surgon who had 400 procedures under his belt. He was ALL THUMBS compared to the guy who developed the procedure. I would have thought that 400 was way more than enough, but this really demonstrated to me that there can be a HUGE difference with the same procedure between one surgeon and the next. This can be true even when both have high numbers..

Good luck! let us know how it goes.

Mark

[iflycozy]

Mark: thx for the post but how can I ( a regular patient ) find out about all thumbs doc? Who is the best in the endoscopic field, or at least the best close to KY? I have no way of knowing bur I'll travel if I have to. I built: N9825W First Flight.

[Keano16]

The thing is - hydrodiscectomy, PLDD, nucleoplasty, IDET, etc. are all "blind" procedures.

The "bone drilling" approaches sound aggressive and invasive, but the truth is that there is really few drilling there. Sometimes, it makes sense to drill and go inside the disc with the endoscope.

Not sure who is near KY, but try SpineUniverse specialist search tool. Concentrate on specialist's CV's. Look where they were educated and with who.

Leaders in MISS field in USA are J. Chiu (California Spine Institute) and Anthony Yeung (Desert Institute for Spine Care). There are definitely some more good MISS surgeons, Mark can note some of them.

I also give my vote to anesthesiologist, dr. Atif Malik at Advanced Pain Management. He has completed few MISS fellowships, especially with Thomas Hoogland...and he has great results with endoscopic surgeries. Look Advanced Pain Management Services ? Home

[Job13]

RIP Freedom of Speech

[Keano16]

hmmm...

To be honest, I am really not sure why you quote me about IDET and Yeung by this occasion.

I have just mentioned IDET as a fluroscopically guided "blind" procedure, and thats it. I have not recommended it to anyone. Dr. Yeung and many other surgeons tried IDET as a serious alternative to fusion and ADR, but only in theory. In practice, situation was different, results were not good any MOST of surgeons abandoned IDET as an alternative for internal disc disruption.

7mm endoscope (you call it cannula in IDET procedure, but you are wrong) is not used during IDET. IDET is blind procedure that does not utilize endocope. It utilizes needle, and trough that needle coil is inserted.

Endoscope is used during endoscopic spine surgeries, and it creates a hole in annulus like you say, but in the end, when you look at all the facts why this hole is created - it all makes sense. However, all this procedures have contraindications, complications and failures. That is normal...

In theory all methods are great, including micro-discectomy. Its simple, they cut you, take out the herniated part of your disc, they close you, and thats it!!! However, like my friend neurosurgeon often says, in spinal medicine, two plus two is not always four.

[iflycozy]

In 2010, I had my back surgery from Dr. Gabriel Jasper in Brick, NJ. Surgery was a medical success. If interested in my notes, I'll email them upon request. matt@bunchlaw.com. Matt Bunch, Kentucky USA