A Case of Thoracic Disc Herniation Effectively Treated with Interventional Radiology Computed Tomography- Guided Percutaneous Endoscopic Radiofrequency Annuloplasty Using a Disc-Fx®

Abstract

In 1972, Hijikata et al. established percutaneous discectomy (PD), which is a procedure aiming at symptom relief for disc herniation through a reduction in nerve root irritation associated with a decrease in intervertebral disc pressure [1,2]. Furthermore, herniation reduction is achieved through secondary cicatricial contraction of the intervertebral discs. PD has subsequently been modified to be a safer, noninvasive procedure, and has been applied in various forms, such as with the use of laser, including the Disc-Fx ® . The Disc-Fx ® facilitates nucleus pulposus transpiration or fiber ring thermocoagulation in addition to conventional nucleus pulposus extenteration using forceps (Hijikata's procedure) [3][4][5]. In this study, we report a patient for whom Interventional Radiology-Computed Tomography (IVR-CT)-guided Percutaneous Endoscopic Radiofrequency Annuloplasty (PERA) was performed for the thoracic disc herniation to reduce the incidence of complications and improve treatment results, leading to a favorable outcome [6].