Posterior Cervical Foraminotomy

Dr. Donald Corenman, a spine surgeon, presents a minimally invasive posterior cervical foraminotomy for herniated disc neck surgery.
This patient developed a disc herniation in his neck that compressed the nerve root causing significant neck pain, arm pain and weakness. In this situation with a disc herniation, the patient had a choice of an ACDF (anterior cervical decompression and fusion - or a posterior cervical foraminotomy. He elected the to have the foraminotomy.
Posterior cervical foraminotomy is performed through a small tube (minimally invasive) under a microscope. In this video, note that the lamina is exposed, a small opening is make with a burr and the nerve root is compressed using very small probes and tools.
For patients who have herniated disc neck surgery using this method, recovery is very quick. There is a small chance of another disc herniation (recurrent herniation) in the future as the hole in the disc wall does not heal.