Selective Retention of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells with Gelatin Sponge for Repair of Intervertebral Disc Defects after Microendoscopic Discectomy: A Prospective Controlled Study and 2-Year Follow-Up

Figure 5

A 41-year-old female, with a chief complaint of low back pain combined with left lower extremity pain and numbness for more than 10 years, failed conservative treatments, and the symptoms progressed in 3 weeks. Preoperative MRI showed a huge herniation bulged into the spinal canal (a, c). She was treated with MMED discectomy combined with BMSC/gelatin sponge composite repairment. MRI scan at 12 months after surgery showed that the Pfirrmann grade of the surgical segment remained at the preoperative level (Grade IV), and the disc protrusion size was significantly decreased, though IDH was slightly decreased (b, d). IDH: intervertebral disc height. The red line in (a) shows the method used to measure IDH; the yellow line in (c) shows the method of measuring disc protrusion size.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)