An Operative Case of Soft Disc Protrusion in Upper Thoracic Level: A Case Report

A case of T3-4 disc herniation is reported as follows. A 23 year-old patient was presented with paraparesis and anterior chest pain. With the anterolateral approach(transthoracic transpleural approach), decompression and removal of a disc fragment was refered; which resulted is an almost complete recovery of the patient. MRI of the thoracic spine suggested a soft disc herniation. In addition, literatures were reviewed in conjunction with this case report.

Microsurgical and Standard Removal of Protruded Lumbar Disc;Clinical Analysis and Comparative Study

Today, lumbar disc surgery has been considerable refined from that performed by Mixter and Barr less than 50 years ago, but there is still room for improvement. The addition of the microsurgical technique may be the most recent means to refine the process of lumbar discectomy. Magnetified vision and brillant illumination have allowed neurosurgeons to refine many standard operations and to devise new ones for hitherto inaccessible areas. Small incisions, meticulous hemostasis, and precise removal of diseased tissue are the contributions of microsurgery to an ideal operation. 37 cases of microsurgical discectomy weer compared to the same number of standard operations. The total patient profiles were the same with other studies. The results demonstrated a 72.9% marked improvement in the standard discectomy category and a 83.9% marked improvement in the microsurgical discectomy group. Also, the mean time until their return to work was 7.3 wks in the microsurgical discectomy group, while 10.8 wks in the standard operation group.