In a series of fifty consecutive cases in which laminectomy for removal or decompression of a protruded intervertebral disc has been performed at The Mayo Clinic, the results have been very gratifying. These patients were selected from a large number of individuals who came to the Clinic with various types of chronic pain. For the most part the pain resembled that which results when a spinal-nerve root is compressed.
There was not a postoperative death in the series.
Protrusion of an intervertebral disc is a definite anatomical and pathological condition. It is usually the result of trauma which may be slight or severe. The most common symptom of such protrusion is pain along the course of one or more spinal nerves, most often the sciatic nerve.
The diagnosis is made by roentgenographic examination of the spinal canal after the introduction of a radiopaque oil into the subarachnoid space. The treatment of choice is laminectomy, with removal of the protruded portion of the disc. Decompressive operations without removal of the disc are not advised.