Laminoforaminotomy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure used to treat cervical radiculopathy, or pinching of the nerve as it branches out of the spinal cord and exits through a channel called foramen. Patients can experience cervical radiculopathy when there is herniated disc or bone spurs from arthritic conditions of the spine (spondylosis) that cause compression on the nerve.
A small incision is made in the back of the neck, and after carefully retracting the neck muscles that surround the spine, part of the lamina and the facet joint are reshaped to widen the foramen and give more room for the nerve. When there is disc herniation, the extruded disc fragment can be removed at the same time.
This procedure can be performed along with other procedures such as laminoplasty or laminectomy and instrumented fusion when there is spinal cord compression (cervical myelopathy) as well.
Laminoforaminotomy is a minimally invasive motion-preserving procedure. Patients do not require any bracing after surgery and are encouraged to move their neck once the initial pain following surgery improves.