Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

Spine surgery was traditionally an extremely invasive procedure. In order to access the spine and remove or address the affected tissue, it was necessary to create a large incision using a scalpel. In addition, it was often necessary to remove small amounts of bone in a procedure called a laminectomy, and to perform spinal fusion or add hardware to stabilize the spine after the resulting loss of structure.

This type of procedure is still necessary in some cases, when the spine condition is rare or serious. However, it is no longer necessary to use open spine surgery to treat most routine spine conditions. Instead, minimally invasive spine surgery can be used. The biggest features in minimally invasive spine surgery are the use lasers and endoscopic cameras.

Eligible Conditions

Only your doctor can tell you whether your particular condition can be treated with minimally invasive spine surgery; some people won't need surgery at all, while rare cases will need to be treated using traditional surgery. In general, the following conditions can be treated using laser spine surgery:

• Herniated discs
  
• Bulging discs
  
• Spinal stenosis
  
• Spinal arthritis
  
• Bone spurs 
• Vertebral fractures
  

Examples of conditions that are not eligible for laser surgery include spinal tumors, kyphosis, and scoliosis. All are rare.

How it Works

With the partial exception of vertebral fractures, most of the above conditions cause symptoms because excess or misplaced tissue presses against the nerve roots or spinal cord. Therefore, the goal of surgery is to remove the tissue where it presses against the nerves.

During laser spine surgery, an endoscopic camera is inserted into the spine so that the surgeon can see the work. Then, a laser is used to dissolve excess tissue. Specialized tools may also be inserted to perform procedures. Alternatively, special tools can be used to patch vertebral fractures without performing open spine surgery. All of these procedures use an incision about the size of a needle, and can be performed in an outpatient setting with a short recovery time.

To learn more, please call the Datta Endoscopic Back Surgery and Pain Center at (646) 374-1799.