CONCEALED RUPTURED INTERVERTEBRAL DISKS

Abstract

In 1929 I¹reported the first 2 cases of ruptured intervertebral disk in which operation was performed during the preceding year. It was recognized that they were of traumatic origin; that the trauma was relatively slight and with minor strains the symptoms flared up anew after a quiescent period. Both of these disks were localized by injections of iodized oil which disclosed blocks in the lumbar canal. It was suggested at the time that the lesion might explain many cases of sciatica. Both of these patients have since remained well. In a little more than a decade this has become the most frequent lesion encountered by neurosurgeons.² Mixter³went a step further and localized the lesion before the protruding disk had produced a total block in the spinal canal. This diagnosis was made by a localized filling defect in the solid mass of iodized oil (5 cc.)