the world's most tissue preserving disk surgery 
minimally invasive = gentle and safe

If severe pain and neurological symptoms cannot be controlled by conservative care a surgical intervention will be necessary. Aim of the discectomy is to remove the extruded disk tissue and to decompress or to completely set free the pinched nerve.

We carry out all disk surgeries endoscopically! With almost 5.500 endoscopic discectomies Dr. Schubert is internationally one of the leading and most experienced spine surgeons.

Endoscopic surgery has proved of value not only for discectomy but also for many other back problems. With this minimally invasive technique all kinds of herniated disks may be removed in a very tissue-preserving way. It may help also with chronic back problems that result from disk protrusions or tears.

A spondylodesis (fusion or stiffening surgery) should always be considered as a last resort, as it is an irreversible surgical intervention.
The affected segment of the spine will be aligned and stiffened (fusion, spondylodesis) simultaneously.

The most Tissue preserving surgery of the world
did you know that...

in an endoscopic disk surgery only the herniated material is removed under local anesthesia and not the entire disk replaced by a cage, artificial disk or bone graft as is common practice?

The natural mobility and stability of the cervical spine is maintained.

In fact, this surgical procedure is analogous to the discectomy of the lumbar spine where also only the herniated tissue is removed and not the entire disk replaced by an artificial placeholder.

Almost 150 annual artificial disc replacements

Thanks to progress in the implant development modern spinal disk prostheses are optimally suited for anatomical and functional conditions within the cervical spine. They hence allow for natural mobility - preserving the whole range of motion of the cervical spine.

Additionally they have a similar bumper character as the natural spinal disk...

Degeneration of spinal disks can lead to severe chronic or intermittent back pain with or without radiations into the legs. This pain can have considerable impact on daily life activities.

Many patients with degenerative spine disease had disk prolapses in their previous medical history. Whereas on x-ray images disk degeneration will not be readily detectable, the degenerative structures can be clearly seen on magnetic resonance images.

Often the desired enlargement of the spinal canal and decompression of the pinched nerves is possible only with a surgical removal of protruding osteophytes. This used to be a complex surgery on the open spinal canal in the past where great parts of the vertebral arches and joints were removed (laminectomy). Modern minimally invasive techniques today allow for a very tissue-preserving intervention as nerves and blood vessels running through the spinal canal remain unhurt. With the aid of a surgical microscope greatly enlarging the operating field a removal of the narrowing structures to the nearest millimeter is feasible. 

Aim of balloon kyphoplasty is to re-erect and stabilize a compressed vertebral body. This is important as otherwise micro movements will irritate the periosteum (the membrane that lines the outer surface of all bones) and this is a main cause of severe pain. 

The intervention is carried out in a position such that the curvature of the spine is already leading to erection and decompression of the vertebral body.

The “safe-catheter” therapy...

... has proven very efficient for smaller disk herniations causing very severe back or leg pain, for patients suffering from scarring after a discectomy and for minor degenerative spinal stenoses.