Patent ID: 8535338

Claim:
A method of reducing a bulge in an intervertebral disc annulus fibrosus adjacent to a vertebral body of a patient's spine, the vertebral body having a posterior surface and an end plate adjacent to the annulus fibrosus, the method comprising: forming a bore through a portion of the vertebral body, the bore extending from the posterior surface and through the end plate; advancing a suture picker through the bore and into the intervertebral disc; advancing a distal end of the suture picker through an outer surface of the annulus fibrosus at a location within or proximate the bulge; engaging the distal end of the suture picker with a portion of a flexible suture element connected to a flexible patch element; retracting the distal end of the suture picker and the portion the suture element engaged therewith proximally through the annulus fibrosus and the bore in the vertebral body, such that the portion of the suture element is positioned external to the vertebral body; applying tension to the portion of the suture element so as to draw the patch element against the outer surface of annulus fibrosus at the location within or proximate the bulge and urge the annulus fibrosus within or proximate the bulge toward an anterior portion of the annulus fibrosus; and securing the suture element under tension.