Dr. Francisco Gutierrez, specialist in Neurosurgery.
The diagnostic method used to evaluate a patient, number one is always going to be the review by the medical specialist.
When we diagnose a herniated disc, the number one treatment is always going to be physical therapy and treatment in a more focused way even if the patient has already done it.
The surgical technique used in these patients is known as a microdiscectomy, which are minimally invasive surgeries.
The open technique has fallen into disuse, since postoperative lumbar pain is greater in the group of patients who undergo conventional open surgery than in those who undergo minimally invasive surgery.
It is important to emphasize that for this type of surgery, we will always have the patient's informed consent, where we will clarify what we are going to do?
When we remove this material that is pressing on the nerve, we remove only what is herniated and the rest of the disc is fine. What we do is to make sure there is no bleeding and check that everything is all right, that the nerve root is completely free and we place certain materials that range from materials to prevent fibrosis, to steroids, which have a recovery up to three times faster than conventional surgery, with a complete recovery and physical activity as of week three.