[hey_look_its_dave]

Hi,

I had a discotomy on L5-S1 before I even knew ADR was possible. Only a very few surgeons are doing it (ADR) here in Canada, and their experience is relatively limited.

I am now about to go to Germany to Zeegers for ADR. Luckily, the discotomy surgery didn't damage my facets too much, so it didn't rule out ADR for me.

Had I known ADR was possible, I would've gone straight to that instead.

The discotomy I had was done by coming in from the back. This is a somewhat tricky job, as he had to cut away some bone (portions of upper and lower lamina) to gain access, and nerves were scarred in the process. Furthermore, the disc does indeed scar, and I can't comment on whether it has a blood supply, but it certainly does have nerves in it.

The discotomy surgeon told me that only 1 in 20 discotomies fail and need revision (fusion is all he could do in that case). I personally find these numbers to be doubtful.

That's my 2 cents.

Dave