Abstract
Objective To assess the procedural efficacy and safety of a Navigable Percutaneous Disk Decompressor
(L'DISQ-C) for cervical disk herniation.
Methods We performed intradiskal decompression on cervical spine specimens from five human
cadavers using the L'DISQ-C under C-arm fluoroscopic guidance. We evaluated our success
for positioning the navigable wand tip into the target region and recorded temperature
variation at various distances from the wand tip in the cervical nucleus pulposus.
The histologic effect of plasma decompression was examined microscopically using harvested
tissues adjacent to the procedure site.
Results We successfully navigated the tip of the L'DISQ-C into the target region of the posterior
cervical disks on the first insertion attempt in all C3–C4 to C6–C7 disks and in 50%
of the C2–C3 and C7–T1 disks. The average temperature elevations within the nucleus
pulposus ranged from 4.14 ± 0.08°C to 12.17 ± 0.76°C at various distances from the
wand tip with or without saline infusion. A histologic examination showed only minor
denaturation at the marginal border of the procedure tract.
Conclusion We effectively navigated the L'DISQ-C wand tip into the posterior target region of
six cadaveric cervical disks and performed percutaneous resection of the target disk
tissues without significant thermal or structural damage to adjacent tissues.
Keywords
herniated disk - percutaneous decompression - plasma energy - spinal interventional
treatment - navigable procedure
