Fig. 1

The patient was 45 years old, male, with left upper limb pain and numbness for 8 months. The cervical 5-6 disc was herniated and presented with numbness and pain in the left lateral forearm and left middle finger. A Cervical 5-6 disc herniation, sagittal plane. B Left intervertebral foramen stenosis, axial plane. C Diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) positioned the injured nerve root at 5-6 cervical segments. D The measuring plane of regions of interest (ROI) was placed at the entrance to the intervertebral foramen, i.e., the intersection of the attachment of the medial edge of the affected superior pedicle to the inferior pedicle and the nerve root