A Comparison of Manual and Power‐Assisted Thoracolumbar Disc Fenestration in Dogs

Thoracolumbar disc fenestration was performed in eight canine cadavers. A hole was cut in the anulus fibrosus with a scalpel in four dogs, and with a high speed drill and burr in four dogs. A curette was used to remove as much of the nucleus pulposus as possible. Sixty-five percent of the nucleus pulposus was removed with the power-assisted technique and 41% was removed by manual fenestration. Manual and power-assisted disc fenestration were …