Dr Steven Gelbard was interviewed by Vital Signs magazine. Here are some extracts from that article.

Steven Gelbard, MD, who began his private practice of neurological
surgery in Florida in 1991, says, “Some people who have epidurals
get better and never have problems again. Or, they may require a set of epidural blocks once a year, or once every two or three years for
flare-up. They can get away without surgery. We have a lot of people
we are following that way. But, if all else fails, and you are hurting
every day since an accident that happened over a year ago, then it
is appropriate to do something more aggressive.”

Dr Steven Gelbard, who has performed more than 200 percutaneous
diskectomies commonly in the cervical and lumbar areas, recommended a percutaneous laser diskectomy with diskography as
Benny’s next course of treatment. Steven Gelbard explains, “We are first going to do a diskogram, which is a study to determine which disk is the abnormal disk [to replicate the patient’s exact pain], and then, assuming the diskogram is positive, we will perform the percutaneous diskectomy [to relieve pressure on the nerve by decompressing the disk].” In the operating room, the air conditioning blows cool air in one
direction only. A scope monitor is on one side of the operating table,
and two X-ray monitors are on the other. Members of the surgical
team focus intently on the patient. Benny lies prone on the table, his
body fully draped except for his lower back....

First, Dr Steven Gelbard places a diskogram needle, lateral to the spine, at the lumbar level suspected of causing the particular pain. The needle
passes through skin and muscle that has been previously locally
anesthetized. As we can see on the fluoroscope, the needle stops just at the edge of the disk. Dr Steven Gelbard then inserts another needle
through that one and injects contrast into the middle of the disk.
The dark liquid flows throughout the disk space.

Dr Steven Gelbard replaces the smaller diskogram cannula with a 2-millimeter one. This tube serves as a pass-through for the suction device and the laser with a built-in camera. The laser tech nudges the laser machine closer to the operating table. Steven Gelbard MD inserts the suction/trimming device through the cannula and shaves a bit out of the middle of the identified disk.
Slurp, slurp, slurp! Little white disk particles float through the tube and
are sucked into the trap. The image on the scope monitor looks like a
“tunnel” emerging into “daylight.” The tunnel is the cannula and the
daylight is the disk. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap! Dr Steven Gelbard zaps the disk a couple of times with the laser. This causes the disk to shrink. The
shaving and the zapping reduce the pressure that’s on the disk, and on
the nerve.