Patient Preference Regarding Invasiveness

Lumbar decompression for sciatica is a very common procedure, being performed over 480,000 times per year in the United States. Traditionally, decompression was performed as an “open” approach. During “open” decompression, often a multi-inch incision is made, the large back muscles are elevated off the spine, bone is removed, and the nerves are decompressed. However…