A
system and method are provided for making an access channel through a
vertebral body to access
a site of neural compression, decompressing it, and repairing the channel to restore vertebral integrity.
System elements include an implantable vertebral plate, a guidance device for orienting
bone cutting tools and controlling the path of a
cutting tool, a
bone cutting tool to make a channel in the
vertebral body, a tool for opening or partially-resecting the
posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine, a tool for retrieving a herniated disc, an implantable device with osteogenic material to fill the access channel, and a retention device that lockably-engages the
bone plate to retain it in position after
insertion.
System elements may be included in a
surgery to decompress an individual
nerve root, the
spinal cord, or the cauda equina when compressed, for example, by any of a herniated disc, an osteophyte, a thickened
ligament arising from degenerative changes within the spine, a
hematoma, or a tumor.