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During the Procedure

• Usually you will be placed in a kneeling position to reduce the weight of your abdomen on your spine.
  
  
  • The surgeon will make a straight incision over the desired vertebrae and down to the lamina, the bony arches of your vertebrae.
    
    
  • The doctor removes the ligament joining the vertebrae along with all or part of the lamina. The goal is to see the involved nerve root.
    
    
  • The doctor pulls the nerve root back toward the center of your spinal column and removes the disk or part of the disk.
    
    
  • The doctor closes the incision. Your large back muscle now protects your spine or nerve roots.
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• The surgery takes 1-3 hours. You lose very little blood.