Created by Kevin Pauza MD, the Discseel® Procedure uses a 100% natural FDA approved fibrin biologic being used elsewher in the human body, and in the spine to repair damaged spinal disc(s). Often people suffering from Degenerative Disc Disease are plagued with back pain from a torn disc or several discs that inflame the nerves within the disc as well as on the spinal nerve causing backpain and sciatica. When a disc leaks, over time it can lose hydration and become degenerated. The Discseel® Procedure uses a fibrin biologic to repair the damaged torn dics tissue, allowing an individual's body to replace the damaged cells with new cells. Essentially, the goal of the Discseel® Procedure is for the fibrin biologic to instigate healthy, new disc tissue growth where the tissue is torn in effort to stop the disc from leaking, no longer inflamming the nerves.
As a sufferer of intense back pain caused by leaky discs and/or Degenerative Disc Disease, you probably have been asking your doctors about your options, because pain medicine is not a long-term solution. Most often, patients have tried countless Corticosteroid epidural injections, as well as taken prescription pain medication, but to no avail. At some point, discussions with your physician have likely included spinal fusion as an end-of-the rope options.
When comparing a minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure like Discseel® with an invasive surgical intervention like spinal fusions, there are major differences. First off, the recovery time for patients who undergo a spinal fusion ususally averages a minimum of six weeks to several months in post operative recovery. Comparatively, the Discseel® Procedure allows for a recovery time of generally six weeks for full range of motion. While we encourage patients to ease back into their physical demands over a period of six months, a patient can return to work the following week after the procedure. The length of the procedure for Discseel® is approximately 30-60 minutes, consisting of image-guided injections of the biologic to the injured disc. Lumbar spinal fusion is surgery which joins, or fuses two or more vertebrae together in the lower back. Spinal fusion is a major surgery, usually lasting several hours, requiring major down time for several weeks to a couple months afterwards. Overall recovery and the return to an active lifestyle is possible with the Discseel® Procedure within a shorter period of time. Spinal fusion uses pins and screws causing everyday forces to shift towards adjacent levels, causing those adjacent levels to often tear and herniate.
This is often referred to as "the domino effect". Fusing vertebraes reduces your range of motion by more than 30%, limiting your activities and quality of daily life. One of the most significant differences between a fusion and the Discseel™ procedure is when one has a lumbar spinal fusion, future surgeries are often needed in many cases due to adjacent segment breakdown as described above. Spinal Fusions place unnecessary forces on the adjacent discs, breaking those levels down because the forces have to go somewhere. The spine was meant to bend with motion, so its unnatural to fuse segments. A spinal fusion is only truly indicated when a patient has instability of the spine. Standing flexion/extension x-rays can confirm whether one has true instability.
To help you better visualize the difference, compare the images on below. The first image is the invasive spinal fusion procedure, showing the hardware now permanently a part of your spine. The second image is a spine after being treated and repaired using the minimally invasive non-surgical Discseel™ Procedure with biologics.
Many patients suffering from Degenerative Disc Disease or torn and herniated discs have undergone the Discseel™ Procedure and been able to get back to the activities they once enjoyed that back pain has caused them to miss out on.
The Discseel™ Procedure is a minimally invasive, 30-60 minute non-surgical spinal procedure and has the goal to get you back in the game.
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