Ovine Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Degeneration Model Utilizing a Lateral Retroperitoneal Drill Bit InjuryKai-Zheong Lim *1, Christopher D. Daly *1,2,3, Peter Ghosh 4, Graham Jenkin 3, David Oehme 5, Justin Cooper-White 6,7, Taryn Naidoo 6, Tony Goldschlager 1,8
1Department of Surgery, Monash University, 2Department of Neurosurgery, Monash University, 3The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, 4Proteobioactives, Pty Ltd, 5Department of Neurosurgery, St Vincent's Hospital, 6Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland, 7School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, 8Department of Neurosurgery, Monash Health
Intervertebral disc degeneration is a significant contributor to back pain and a leading cause of disability worldwide. Numerous animal models of intervertebral disc degeneration exist. We demonstrate an ovine model of intervertebral disc degeneration, utilizing a drill bit, which achieves a consistent disc injury and reproducible level of disc degeneration.