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Spine Surgery Basics pp 193–201Cite as

Thoracic Disc Herniation

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Abstract

Thoracic disc herniation (TDH) is a relatively rare condition with an incidence ranging from 1:1,000 to 1:1,000,000 patients annually (McInerney and Ball, Neurosurg Focus 9(4):1–8, 2000). In comparison to the cervical and lumbar spines, symptomatic disc disease is also much less common in the thoracic spine. Its infrequency and lack of a characteristic presentation make TDHs difficult to diagnose. In addition, they can be technically and surgically demanding to treat. As a result, operations for a thoracic disc herniation compromise only 0.14–4 % of all disc excisions (Stillerman and Chen, J Neurosurg 88:623–633, 1998). Over time, several techniques to perform surgical decompression of thoracic disc disease have evolved. These vary depending on location of pathology, patient presentation, and surgeon preference or experience. The main goal, however, is to safely decompress the neural elements.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Orthopedic Institute of Pennsylvania, 3399 Trindle Road, Camp Hill, PA, 17011, USA

    Michael Fernandez

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Bone and Joint Institute, 30 Hope Drive, Building A, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA

    Sandeep N. Gidvani M.D.

Authors
  1. Michael Fernandez
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  2. Sandeep N. Gidvani M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Fernandez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado, Denver Dept. Orthopaedics, Aurora, Colorado, USA

    Vikas V. Patel

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Neurosciences Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Alpesh Patel

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    James S. Harrop

  4. University of Colorado, Denver Dept. Orthopaedics, Aurora, Colorado, USA

    Evalina Burger

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Fernandez, M., Gidvani, S.N. (2014). Thoracic Disc Herniation. In: Patel, V., Patel, A., Harrop, J., Burger, E. (eds) Spine Surgery Basics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34126-7_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34126-7_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-34125-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-34126-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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