MINIMALLY INVASIVE SPINAL SURGERIES
What is minimally invasive spine surgery?
When you undergo minimally invasive spine surgery, your procedure is performed using a few small incisions. This type of surgery causes less trauma than the single, large incision used during open surgery. As a result, you have less bleeding, reduced postoperative pain, and a faster recovery.
Minimally invasive spine surgery also spares the surrounding muscles and soft tissues. To create the tiny opening needed for the narrow surgical tools, the doctors at TriMed Spine & Joint use a retractor that gently pushes muscles out of the way. After your procedure, the muscles return to their original position without needing to heal from an incision.
When might I need minimally invasive spine surgery?
Nonsurgical therapies are the first line of treatment for back and neck problems. When they fail to provide sufficient pain relief, your doctor may recommend minimally invasive spine surgery.
Spinal conditions often treated with minimally invasive surgery include:
- Degenerative disc disease
- Herniated discs
- Spinal stenosis
- Spinal instability
- Spinal deformities
- Vertebral compression fractures
In some cases, spinal tumors may be removed using minimally invasive surgery.
What are the different types of minimally invasive spinal surgeries?
During minimally invasive spine surgery, your doctor can repair the underlying problem and stabilize your spine, which alleviates your pain and restores optimal movement and function. Minimally invasive techniques are preferred for removing damaged discs and spinal decompression and fusion.
The team at TriMed Spine & Joint has extensive experience performing several types of minimally invasive spinal surgery, including:
Lumbar laminectomy
Lumbar laminectomy, or spinal decompression surgery, is performed to relieve pressure from pinched spinal nerves. The procedure creates more space for the nerves by removing the lamina, which is the bone on the back side of the vertebra. Portions of the facet joints and thickened ligaments may also be removed if needed.
>Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF)
XLIF can help relieve pain caused by degenerative disc disease, spinal instability, spinal curvature, slipped discs, and disc herniation.
During the procedure, the doctors at TriMed Spine & Joint remove the damaged disc, replace it with a plastic spacer, then insert bone graft material to promote fusion between the two vertebrae.
If you suffer from ongoing back pain, minimally invasive spine surgery may provide the relief you need. To learn whether you’re a good candidate, call the office or schedule an appointment online.
More Questions Patients Ask
What makes a spinal surgery minimally invasive?
The difference is in the exposure, not the goal. Minimally invasive techniques use small incisions, tubular retractors and image guidance to reach the spine while cutting and retracting less muscle. The decompression or fusion performed at the end is the same objective as in open surgery, but the trauma of getting there is reduced, which is why patients often have less postoperative pain and shorter hospital stays.
Is minimally invasive surgery always the better option?
No. It is well suited to focused problems at one or two levels. Complex deformity, multi-level disease, revision surgery and cases needing wide exposure are sometimes better served by an open approach, and forcing a minimally invasive technique onto the wrong case is not in the patient’s interest. Your surgeon should be able to explain why a particular approach fits your anatomy.
Do I still need rehabilitation afterward?
Yes, and it is arguably more important than the surgery. Nerve decompression removes the mechanical problem but does not restore the strength, mobility and movement habits lost during months or years of pain. Orthopedic physical therapy after surgery is what converts a technically successful operation into a functional result.
How do I find out whether I need surgery at all?
Start with an evaluation rather than with a procedure. We examine you, review any imaging you already have, and tell you plainly whether your findings point toward conservative care, injection-based pain management, DRX9000 spinal decompression at our Boca Raton office, or a surgical opinion. Call 1 (855) 4-TRIMED to be scheduled.