Clinical experience with automated percutaneous discectomy.

This study was performed to evaluate a group of patients undergoing automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy. All patients had disc pathology at L4/L5 and L5/S1 documented on CT scan and/or MRI. The range of follow-up was between 3 months and 20 months. The average hospital stay was 2 days (range 1-3 days). A total of 21 patients underwent the procedure and 18 were available for assessment. Of these, 12 patients improved. Of the patients that did not, two subsequently underwent surgical discectomy. There was one failed procedure but no other intra- or post-operative complications. The results of the study indicate that percutaneous discectomy has a demonstrable low morbidity and can be performed under local anaesthesia. However, proper patient selection is important for successful results.