Column The Real Cost of Surgery for Lumbar Disc Herniation: Full Disclosure of Market Prices and Whether Each Surgical Procedure is Covered by Health Insurance.
March 24, 2023
Lumbar disc herniation is the most widely recognized condition among the degenerative disorder of the lumbar spine.
When herniation develops, symptoms such as back pain, leg pain, and numbness can interfere with daily life and work.
In some cases, herniated discs may heal spontaneously, but in most cases, surgery or other treatment is required.
If it comes to this, the cost of treatment is a legitimate concern for patients, so today in this column, we will introduce the various costs of treatments available for lumbar disc herniation.
Advantages and disadvantages of health insurance coverage vs out-of-pocket treatment
Depending on the medical institution, surgery can be performed either through health insurance coverage or out-of-pocket treatment.
Health insurance coverage
In a treatment covered by health insurance, patients typically pay 10-30% of the overall treatment cost, provided they have health insurance.
However, in many cases, the disadvantages are that necessary tests such as MRI cannot be taken on the same day, the length of time until surgery is required, and there are restrictions on the equipment and medical materials that can be used during surgery.
Out-of-pocket treatment
With an out-of-pocket treatment, the patient must bear the full (100%) cost of the treatment. Although this may seem like an apparent disadvantage at first glance, the advantages are not negligible, since unlike treatment covered by health insurance, the time between the MRI scan and the actual surgery is much shorter, a wider range of equipment is available, and less invasive surgery can be performed. Depending on the treatment, out-of-pocket treatment may also allow for no hospitalization and a shorter period of bed rest after surgery.
Cost of Surgery
The cost of surgery varies depending on the sites to be treated and the medical institution.
Below is a summary of the cost of surgery per site performed at medical institutions in Japan.
LOVE Method (or hemi-semi-laminectomy)
Under general anesthesia, a 5-10 cm incision is made in the back, the nerve is avoided, and a portion of the ligament or vertebral arch is shaved or cut open to remove the herniated area at the back under real-time visual monitoring by fluoroscopy.
Covered by health insurance
Hospitalization: 2 to 3 weeks
Cost: Approx. 70,000 yen (30% of the total cost) plus hospitalization expenses
Microscopic disc herniotomy (MD method)
Under general anesthesia, a 3 to 5 cm incision is made and the herniated portion protruding into the microscope is removed.
Covered by health insurance
Hospitalization: 2 to 3 weeks
Cost: 220,000-275,000 yen (30% of the total cost) plus hospitalization expenses
Microendoscopic discectomy (MED method)
A 16mm incision is made in the back under general anesthesia, an external canal and endoscope are inserted, and the protruding herniated portion is confirmed by the endoscope and removed.
Covered by health insurance
Length of hospitalization: 1 to 2 weeks
Cost: 231,000-300,000 yen (30% of the total cost) plus hospitalization expenses
Spinal Cord Stimulation Therapy (SCS method)
After examining the effect of electrical stimulation on a trial basis under local anesthesia, a stimulator is implanted under general anesthesia if the desired effect is achieved.
Covered by health insurance
Hospitalization: 3 weeks
Cost: 93,000-140,000 yen (10% of the total cost) plus hospitalization expenses
Endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion
Fixation of the intervertebral body using an endoscope and X-ray fluoroscopy.
Covered by health insurance
Hospitalization: 1 to 2 weeks
Cost: 600,000-850,000 yen (30% of the total cost)
Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD method)
A tube called a control tube is inserted from the back under local anesthesia, and the hernia is checked and removed through an endoscope.
Covered by health insurance
Hospitalization: 2 days
Cost: 150,000-200,000 yen (30% of the total cost)
Intradiscal enzyme injection therapy (Hernicore)
Under local anesthesia, an enzyme is injected into the tissue compressing the nerve.
Covered by health insurance
Hospitalization period: half a day
Cost: 60,000 yen (30% of the total cost)
Radiofrequency Ablation for Lumbar Disc Herniation
A needle is inserted, the protruding herniated area is extracted with small forceps, and at the same time, heat condensation is performed with radiofrequency.
Out-of-pocket treatment
Hospitalization period: half a day
Cost: 660,000 yen (10% of the total cost)
Percutaneous Laser Disc Discectomy (PLDD)
A needle is inserted into the affected disc herniation area from the back under local anesthesia, and a laser fiber is passed through the path of the needle to burn the nucleus pulposus in the disc with a laser, which creates a cavity in the nucleus pulposus and causes the disc to shrink.
Out-of-pocket treatment
Length of hospital stay: half a day
Cost: 308,000 to 495,000 yen (10% of the total cost)
Percutaneous Ozone Disc Decompression (PODD)
A needle is inserted into the affected herniated disc from the back under local anesthesia, and a mixture of ozone and oxygen gas is injected through the tip of the needle to reduce the volume of the herniated disc and decrease the pressure on the nerve.
Out-of-pocket treatment
Length of hospital stay: half a day
Cost: 330,000 yen (10% of the total cost)
Hybrid laser therapy
Under local anesthesia, a laser is used to shrink the protruding hernia, and ozone is injected to suppress nerve root inflammation.
Out-of-pocket treatment
Hospitalization period: half a day
Cost: 440,000 yen (10% of the total cost)
The Cellgel method (intervertebral disc repair implant gel treatment)
Under local anesthesia, an implantable gel is injected into the damaged disc to repair the disc and prevent leakage in the nucleus pulposus.
Out-of-pocket treatment
Length of hospital stay: half a day
Cost: 1,320,000 yen (10% of the total cost)
*In the case of surgery requiring hospitalization, hospitalization costs (basic hospitalization fee, meals, etc.) as well as treatment costs will be charged. The total cost may amount to more than 1,000,000 yen.
We offer minimally invasive, day treatment for various spinal disorders such as disc herniation and spinal canal stenosis.
The Cellgel procedure, which repairs and preserves the intervertebral disc and prevents herniation from recurring, is only performed at our clinic in Japan.
If you have been diagnosed with a herniated disc and are in pain, or if you would like to avoid surgery, please consider having a consultation at our clinic.
