By Shalise Manza Young, Globe Staff

The diskectomy, the official name for the procedure to fix a herniated disk, will be performed in California by Dr. Robert Watkins, considered one of the best in the business when it comes to this particular surgery.

Colleague Ben Volin wrote last week about the recovery process after a diskectomy, and also how former players responded to getting the procedure.

As is well known at this point, Tuesday's surgery will be the fifth Gronkowski has undergone since mid-November – he had to have his left forearm, initially broken against the Colts, operated on four times.

The date of Gronkowski's back surgery was first reported by ESPN.com.