Disc herniation

Changed by Craig Hacking, 27 Mar 2024

Back to revision history

Disclosures - updated 3 May 2023:

Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)

Updates to Article Attributes

Body was changed:

Show markup changes

Disc herniation ~~refers~~ refers to the displacement of intervertebral disc material beyond the normal confines of the disc but involving less than 25% of the circumference (to distinguish it from a disc bulge). A herniation may contain nucleus pulposus, vertebral endplate cartilage, apophyseal bone/osteophyte and annulus fibrosus.

Disc herniations can be divided into groups in a variety of ways. Commonly they are divided into protrusion vs extrusion:

protrusion
- base wider than herniation
- confined to disc level
- outer annular fibres intact
extrusion
- base (a.k.a. neck) narrower than herniation 'dome'
- may extend above or below endplates or adjacent vertebrae
- complete annular tear with passage of nuclear material beyond disc annulus
- disc material can then migrate away from annulus or become sequestered

Herniations can further be classified as:

contained
- with intact outer fibres of annulus fibrosus and posterior longitudinal ligament, or
- with intact posterior longitudinal ligament alone
not contained
- tear of outer fibres of annulus fibrosus and posterior longitudinal ligament

Image 3 Diagram ( update )

Caption was changed:

Figure 3: disc protrusion

Image 4 Diagram ( update )

Caption was changed:

Figure 4: disc extrusion

Image 7 Diagram ( create )

Caption was added:

Figure 7: location

Position was set to 7.

ADVERTISEMENT: Supporters see fewer/no ads

{"current_user":null,"inclusions":[{"imageId":24786,"studyId":37901,"caseSlug":"intervertebral-disc-disease-nomenclature-illustration","caption":"Figure 1: normal","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/24786/904f84d345d72215528758bee6f2cc_big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"},{"imageId":12738056,"studyId":37901,"caseSlug":"intervertebral-disc-disease-nomenclature-illustration","caption":"Figure 2: disc extrusion","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/12738056/076a23012e343a4b8e7452e3dc0b0a_big_gallery.jpg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"},{"imageId":10771381,"studyId":32984,"caseSlug":"disc-herniation-nomenclature","caption":"Figure 3: disc protrusion","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/10771381/b8d65f6e8e6a23bcf49c635d56ca7b_big_gallery.jpg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"},{"imageId":10771379,"studyId":32984,"caseSlug":"disc-herniation-nomenclature","caption":"Figure 4: disc extrusion","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/10771379/8fb17ece6ae4e18697a9023dca10fc_big_gallery.jpg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"},{"imageId":8981563,"studyId":32984,"caseSlug":"disc-herniation-nomenclature","caption":"Figure 5: disc sequestration","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/8981563/860716fa64337d51d35ce6e46bea92_big_gallery.jpg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"},{"imageId":38701971,"studyId":67775,"caseSlug":"disc-herniation-affecting-transiting-nerve-root-lumbar-spine","caption":"Figure 6: lumbar disc herniation","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/38701971/1f5ebb4f32a3787d232ac37b71a248_big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"},{"imageId":63473133,"studyId":141478,"caseSlug":"herniated-disc-location","caption":"Figure 7: location","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/63473133/ba8bcd7721bfe2f77360f4e83e032bc293bef771c394e0f2f71d778ab7f3343d_big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"}],"ddx_inclusions":[],"lang":"us"}