Percutaneous interspinous device insertion

Novel devices are now available which can be used to forcibly keep the vertebrae in a bent position to relieve the pain of spinal stenosis. The advantages are that the patient can be operated under local anaesthesia and thus older and morbid patients can get good relief of symptoms of spinal cord compression

PERCUTANEOUS SPINAL INTERVENTION

Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty

Fractures of the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae are common and occur mostly through a combination of injury through a weakned bone.

The use of needle kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty along with the recent innovations of vertebral body stenting allow us to expand the collapsed vertebrae to normal contours and also reinforce them with cement and other bone substitutes to strengthen the vertebrae. The procedure is simple, can be carried out under local anaesthesia and on a day care basis. The development of intervertebral expandable stents has improved the results and safety of this procedure. My group has done more than 1200 vertebroplasties and kyphoplasties with excellent results.

Percutaneous Annuloplasty and Discectomy

Image guided insertion of needles inserted through the skin into the intervertebral discs under local anaesthesia with the patient awake has opened up a world of new possibilities in the management of degenerative disc disease. The needle serves as a conduit through which a variety of devices like thermal electrodes, water scalpels or screw decompressors can be inserted to relieve the pressure of a contained herniated disc and thus reduce the control. Normally epidural and root blocks are administered simultaneously to give pain relief. Though the long term effect of these procedures are open to question, their efficacy in relieving pain in the short term is unmatched.