Minimally Invasive Back Surgery

Unlike traditional spine surgery that requires an incision that is typically 5 to 6 inches long, minimally invasive back operations do not require long incisions and only the area that has the problem is exposed. A small incision means that there is minimum damage to the muscles surrounding the spine which also means that the wound heals faster with much less pain. Usually for decompression and spinal fusion procedures that are done with the help of minimally invasive back surgery doctors use tubular retractors.

Types of Minimally Invasive Procedures

Specialist use minimally invasive back surgery procedures for a lot of spinal disorders. The most common conditions treated using MISS are herniated or degenerated disc as well as, spinal instability, osteomyelitis (discitis), spondylolisthesis and scoliosis. There are various types of minimally invasive procedures that are used to treat these conditions namely the following:

  • MIS Lumbar Diskectomy
  • MIS Lumbar Fusion
  • Anterior longitudinal ligament resection.
  • Complex minimally invasive surgery with lateral approach
  • Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF)
  • Lateral lumbar interbody fusion.
  • Percutaneous posterior pedicle screw fixation
  • Minimally invasive surgical corpectomy
  • Minimally Invasive Back SurgerySmith-Petersen osteotomy
  • Pedicle subtraction osteotomy
  • Endoscopic discectomy
  • Microendoscopic discectomy
  • Laser discectomy
  • Posterior cervical microforaminotomy (PCMF)
  • Anterior cervical discectomy
  • Artificial cervical disc replacement or total disc replacement (TDR)
  • Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF)
  • Mini ALIF
  • Transformal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF)
  • Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF)
  • Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)
  • Thoracotomy
  • Laminectomy
  • Laminotomy

 Benefits of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Minimally invasive back operations have some very big advantages over traditional spine surgery that do not just require big incisions and muscle stripping but also causes the patient a lot of pain and requires a long recuperation period. The main benefits of MISS are:

  • Small incisions
  • Less pain after operation
  • Short hospital stay
  • Shorter recuperation period
  • Less bleeding
  • Reduce risk of infection