Percutaneous laser disc decompression: Clinical experience at SCTIMST and long term follow up

Background: Low backache (LBA) is now increasing in younger population due to misdirected spinal kinetics secondary to improper posture, heavy load lifting and motorbike driving. Hence minimally invasive procedures are increasingly sought after. Among these, PLDD is currently popular and in use. We present our long term follow-up in the use of Nd:YAG laser for PLDD.
Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of PLDD in treatment of contained herniation of lumbar discs & long term follow up results.
Materials and Methods: Forty patients with contained lumbar disc herniation on MRI and who did not respond to 6 weeks conservative treatment were subjected to PLDD. L4-5 disc was treated in 31, L5-S1 in 12 and L1-2 and L3-4 in one each. Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm was used for the procedure. Total laser energy of 1500-2000 Joules was delivered at the disc space depending upon the size.
Results: There was immediate pain relief in 32/40 (80%). According to MacNab criteria good to fair response was seen in 37/40 (92%) and 3 patients (7.5%) responded poorly to this treatment. On follow up which ranged from 1 to 7 years, 34/40 (85%) had pain relief with no need for further treatment.
Complications: Significant pain at local puncture site was experienced by 8 (20%), pain during lasing was experienced by one. One patient developed muscular spasm.
Conclusion: Percutaneous laser disc decompression is a safe, relatively noninvasive and effective treatment modality for contained, nonsequestered, herniated lumbar disc disease in carefully selected patients.