| Original Article | Korean J Pain 2011 March; Vol. 24, No. 1: 36-43 pISSN 2005-9159 eISSN 2093-0569 DOI：10.3344/kjp.2011.24.1.36 The Results of Cervical Nucleoplasty in Patients with Cervical Disc Disorder: A Retrospective Clinical Study of 22 Patients Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Konkuk University Hospital, *Seoul National University Boramae Hospital, †Seoul National University Hospital, ‡Chung-Ang University Hospital, Seoul, Korea Sung Eun Sim, MD*, Eun Sung Ko, MD, Duk Kyung Kim, MD, Hae Kyoung Kim, MD, Yong Chul Kim, MD†, and Hwa Yong Shin, MD‡ Background: Methods: Nucleoplasty is a minimally invasive spinal surgery using a CoblationⓇ technique that creates small voids within the disc. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cervical nucleoplasty in patients with cervical disc disorder. Between March 2008 and December 2009, 22 patients with cervical disc disorders were treated with cervical nucleoplasty after failed conservative treatment. All procedures were performed under local anesthesia, and fluoroscopic guidance and voids were created in the disc with the PercTM DC Spine WandTM. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by the Modified Macnab criteria and VAS score at preprocedure, postprocedure 1 month, and 6 months. Results: Six patients had one, eight patients had two and eight patients had three discs treated; a total of 46 procedures was performed. Mean VAS reduced from 9.3 at preprocedure to 3.7 at postprocedure 1 month and to 3.4 at postprocedure 6 months. There was no significant complication related to the procedure within the first month. Outcomes were good or excellent in 17/22 (77.3%) cases. Postprocedure magnetic resonance imaging was acquired in two patients after two months showing morphologic evidence of volume reduction of protruded disc material in one patient but not in the other. Conclusions: Percutaneous decompression with a nucleoplasty using a CoblationⓇ technique in the treatment of cervical disc disorder is a safe, minimally-invasive and less uncomfortable procedure, with an excellent short-term clinical outcome. (Korean J Pain 2011; 24: 36-43) Key Words: cervical, disc, diskectomy, nucleoplasty, percutaneous. Received October 28, 2010. Revised December 15, 2010. Accepted January 6, 2011. Correspondence to: Hwa Yong Shin, MD Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chung-Ang University Hospital, 224-1, Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 100-272, Korea Tel: ＋82-2-6299-2577, Fax: ＋82-2-6298-8351, E-mail: paindoctor@paran.com This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Copyright ⓒ The Korean Pain Society, 2011