Thousands of people every year in the United States herniate spinal discs. The spine is cushioned at each bony level by an intervertebral disc, which acts as a shock absorber. When one of these discs ruptures or herniates, it can lead to a painful feeling in the back as well as radiating pain into the leg or legs. This is often known as sciatica. Many cases of sciatica caused by herniated discs resolve with nonsurgical therapy. However, when all else has failed, the patient sometimes needs a surgery, called a discectomy, in which the ruptured part of the disc is removed.
When this extruded part of the disc is removed, the hole it ruptured through is often left behind.
A common question both for surgeons and patients is: What stops a disc herniation from recurring or happening again? Is there something to close the hole that is created by the herniation? Up until now, there really has not been. However, over the last 10 years, Barricaid has developed a device which, in layman’s terms, acts to plug the hole of the disc herniation and significantly reduce the chances of a reherniation.
“This may be an answer to a problem which has plagued many a patient and surgeon over the last 50 years of disc surgery: Can we prevent this from happening again at the same level?” – spine surgeon Dr. Sam Zonshayn.
Thank you, Dr. Jonathan Lewin and Dr. Sam Zonshayn of The Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders for sharing your Barricaid story in The Jewish Link! Read the full story here (link.)