Importance

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Abstract

Arthroscopic cervical discectomy instruments include a push knob for a guide wire, a pair of telescopically mounted dilator tubes, one of which includes a water port so that the tube provides the additional function of an irrigation tube, a ligament cutter, a continuous suction punch, a cervical osteotone, a cervical cureet, a nucleus extractor and a cureet nucleus extractor. The dilator tubes, the ligament cutter, and the continuous suction punch are all centrally bored to receive the guide wire. All of the instruments are of arthroscopic proportions and each instrument, exclusive of its handle, is slideably insertable through the bore of the largest in diameter dilator tube. The largest in diameter dilator tube serves as a dilator, an irrigation tube, and as the main sheath through which the other tools are inserted. In a second embodiment, the pair of dilator tubes are replaced with a plurality of telescoping dilator tubes of progressively larger diameters and shorter lengths. The tools enable a novel dilation method and a novel surgical method.

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First Claim