A sterile, hand-held, powered surgical instrument designed to excise spinal (central canal and foramen) soft and hard tissue to relieve pressure (decompression) on adjacent nerve tissue, especially in the case of spinal stenosis or degenerative disk disease (DDD). It typically consists of a handpiece and integral metal (e.g., stainless steel) shaft, which may have a straight or curved tip, terminating in an exposed or shielded rotary cutting burr. The rotary action is provided by a suitable electrically or pneumatically-powered motor attached to the proximal end of the handpiece. This is a single-use device.