For surgery to be considered, imaging techniques and the symptoms must clearly show that a slipped disc is in fact responsible for the pain. Before deciding to go ahead with the procedure, it’s important to carefully weigh the pros and cons together with your doctor. Your individual circumstances will also play a role in the decision because they can influence the success of the treatment.

Surgical techniques

The idea is to give the nerve more space so the inflammation can go down and the symptoms can go away. Various surgical techniques can be used when operating on a slipped disc:

Open discectomy (microdiscectomy): “Open” discectomy is the most commonly performed type of surgery for a slipped disc. The damaged part of the spinal disc is removed and the surgeon is able to see the area being operated on using a microscope.

Endoscopic surgery: Endoscopic surgery – also called minimally invasive or keyhole surgery – uses very small instruments so only one small cut is needed. This is done to speed up recovery and prevent the formation of scars that may cause problems.

Surgery on the nucleus (inner core) of the spinal disc: In these “indirect” procedures, the gel-like core of the spinal disc is removed to make the spinal disc smaller, which in turn reduces pressure on the pinched nerve. All of these procedures involve inserting an instrument into the spinal disc to reach the core. The core of the spinal disc can be removed using suction. This is called percutaneous nucleotomy.