This is a surgical procedure on the back (first performed in the 1950s) that removes a portion of a herniated or degenerative disc from the back and replaced with an implant. The surgery is completed through an incision in the abdomen and removes the affected disc. When the disc is removed, you will have an empty space where the disc was, so to fill it in, the doctor will use a bone graft to fill the empty space. This will create a connection – a spinal fusion – between vertebrae and once the healing process begins, new bone cells will fuse the bones together and eventually, there will be one solid bone there.
