Epidural lysis of adhesions (LOA), also known as percutaneous adhesiolysis or the Racz procedure, is a minimally invasive spine surgery which involves the dissolution of epidural scar tissue by mechanical means to facilitate the spread of analgesics in an effort to alleviate pain.
Evidence suggests the procedure may also be effective in treating spinal stenosis and radicular pain caused by a herniated disc.
It was developed at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) in 1989 by Gabor B.
Epidural, (Greek): situated on or outside the dura mater, from epi- "on top of" + dura mater + -al. Adhesion (Latin) adhēsiōn- for Latin adhaesiōn- (stem of adhaesiō) a clinging, equivalent to adhaes(us), past participle of adhaerēre to adhere + -iōn- -ion.
[6] The Racz procedure[7] was only considered after conservative treatments had failed to help patients with low back and cervical pain.