I generally assume that an “aggressive lateral discectomy” at L3-4 is a far lateral discectomy at this level. However, the statement “and when complete, a ball probe was passed out into the neural foramen and along the exiting L4 nerve root without any compression” means something different to me.
To pass a probe “out” into the foramen generally means that you are in the canal and going “in to out”. This means that this was not a far lateral discectomy but a standard posterolateral approach at L3-4.
The L4 nerve exits the canal at the L4-5 level at the foramen, so there must be some error in dictation. The nerve that leaves the canal at L3-4 is the L3 nerve.
Dr. Corenman