Lumbar disk. Surgical tricks for safeguarding the "root's ecology"

Restoration of a physiologic periradicular environment is a fundamental step toward improving the results of surgical procedures on the herniated lumbar disk. Combined with the preservation of periradicular fat (or free transplant of subcutaneous fat), reconstruction of the yellow ligament, recreating the interlaminar plane, may act as a barrier against postoperative adhesions. An operative technique is described that is aimed toward preserving the yellow ligament with the purpose of reconstructing it at the end of the surgical procedure on the root.