"Chama-se nucleoplastia por plasma, ou plasma light, e é uma técnica inovadora em Portugal que permite tratar as hérnias dos discos. Através de um filamento fino de fibra ótica é conduzida uma fonte térmica de plasma, que é aplicada numa localização muito precisa do disco, sob controlo imagiológico, sem lesão das estruturas perivertebrais e nervosas adjacentes. Ao aliviar a tensão sobre os nervos, tira também a dor. A técnica já está a ser aplicada desde outubro no Centro da Coluna da Lapa, a funcionar no Hospital da Lapa, no Porto. Pode ser aplicada nas hérnias dos discos "contidas" (não extrusas), que representam cerca de 70% de todas as hérnias. No entanto, nem todos são candidatos a esta inovadora técnica..."

"This treatment may be performed in patients with complaints of pain in the column (with or without irradiation to the arm or leg), no improvement over time, with poor response to drug treatment, and also those which have already been operated. Patients are hospitalized for a day, recover more quickly and do not need general anesthesia or remove the disc (flexible structure, located between the vertebral bodies, which acts as a protective cushion, allowing the movements), as in conventional surgery. According to several published studies, the success rate ranges from 75% to 80%. And it does not stop the surgery, if it's really necessary. "

"In the context of World Column Day, marked on October 16, the Lapa Hospital in Porto will inaugurate the Lapa Center. It is a unit specialized in non-surgical and minimally invasive procedures of several pathologies that spine, such as intervertebral disc hernias, vertebral fractures, and vertebral arthroses. "

"She discovered a herniated disc in the spine and was unexpectedly paralyzed. Both legs did not move. She had surgery. The operation did not go well. Ana Sofia had been a victim of negligence. She went to many medical boards and was given a very high permanent disability. One of the legs did not move and the pain were brutal. Life had been transformed, still only 30 years old. She was without work and was compensated by the hospital for the medical error. With this money he sought solutions, dozens of them, in everything that can be imagined and not imagined. Everyone told her that the only solution was to take strong medication all her life. "

"It is estimated that about 85 percent of the world's population, at least once in their lifetime, have complaints of spinal-related pain. Most of the time, it is sufficiently intense and disabling, with great interference with quality of life and ability to work. The potential causes of "back pain" are diverse. However, in the vast majority of cases, pain is secondary to disc disease (classified in the medical nomenclature by "protrusions", "procidences" or "hernias"), especially in the lumbar and cervical segments of the spine. The generic solution to this problem has been the use of surgery. "