Study design A rabbit model for disc.degeneration research that produced by CT guided percutaneous puncture technology.Objective To establish a rabbit model of intervertebral disc degeneration with a simple, minimally invasive procedure for injecting drug or biological factors into the intervertebral disc.Summary of background data Various animal models have been developed to investigate the complex mechanisms leading to intervertebral disc disorders and to evaluate the different therapeutic options.Needle puncture is a common method of inducing interevertebral degeneration in animal models.A prerequisite of this model is that it should be performed with minimal disturbance of normal physiological function around the disc to obtain reproducible results.Methods The needle puncture model was conducted in the rabbit with CT guided percutaneous puncture technology.18G needle was used to induce an injury to the disc to a depth of 5 ram.Radiographic, histological and biochemical analysis were performed;magnetic resonance images were also assessed in the needle puncture model.Results Significant disc space narrowing was observed as early as 4 weeks and osteophyte formed at 12 weeks after stabbing.The MRI demonstrated a progressive loss of T2-weighted signal intensity at stabbed discs over the 12-week study period.Histology showed a progressive loss of the normal architecture from the 4-week to 12-week time point.Biochemical assay suggest that the proteoglycan decreased progressively with time extend.Conclusions A simple, minimally invasive procedure inducing intervertebral disc disorder in rabbit by the percutaneous needle puncture technique guided by computer tomography was established successfully.The puncture procedure can be performed with minimal damage and handling of the other structures ensuring a uniform reproducible disc degeneration model.