Percutaneous Cement Discoplasty in the Treatment of Degenerative Disc Disease. Case Series

Abstract

Introduction: Percutaneous cement discoplasty (PCD) is a minimally invasive surgical technique, which provides segmental stabilization and an indirect decompression effect in cases of severe degenerative disc disease with vacuum phenomenon, useful in patients with comorbidities that contraindicate invasive surgical procedures. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of 6 patients undergoing PCD was carried out, reporting the demographic variables, the segments treated and the clinical result evaluated by means of the visual analog pain scale (VAS) both in the presurgical and in the 6-month follow-up. Finally, a literature review was carried out. Results: 6 cases of PCD were included, of which 5 had a diagnosis of dyscarthrosis and 1 dyscarthrosis with spondylolisthesis. 4 female and 2 male patients. In 3 patients, PCD was performed in 1 segment and in 3 patients in multiple segments. Regarding the clinical result, an improvement was presented in 5 of the patients (mean 5.6 VAS points), 1 of the patients did not present improvement and required another surgical intervention. Conclusions: PCD is a minimally invasive technique useful in the treatment of spine pain secondary to degenerative disc disease in those patients with comorbidities that contraindicate a major procedure. Indirect foraminal decompression by PCD in one or more segments appears to contribute to pain relief. Level of Evidence III. Series of cases and controls.