Post-Procedure CT Follow-up after Percutaneous Automated Lumbar Nucleotomy

In order to evaluate the incidence of soft tissue changes after automated lumbar nucleotomy, a prospective cohort study was performed with follow-up CT within four to six hours after treatment of 97 discs in 88 patients. The CT scans were normal at 47 levels and abnormal at 50. At 11 levels traces of blood were seen along the trajectory, of which nine were located in the subcutaneous fat, one in the extensor and one in the psoas muscle. Small gas collections were observed at 42 levels. Twenty-one of them were located in the extensor and two in the psoas muscle, seven in the subcutaneous fat, two in the epidural space and ten in multiple locations. The abnormal scans were not associated with clinical symptoms different from those with normal scans. The results support previous reports indicating that this procedure is associated with low morbidity and complication rates.