Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

Minimally invasive spine surgery uses modern imaging and specialized instruments to operate on the spine through much smaller openings than traditional open surgery, reducing tissue trauma, bleeding, radiation exposure, and infection risk. Where a conventional operation for even a modest disc problem once required a five to six inch incision and a month in the hospital, endoscopic techniques can now be performed through openings of only two to five millimeters, and microscope-assisted procedures through roughly one inch incisions. It is used to treat degenerative disc disease, disc herniation, fractures, tumors, infections, spinal instability, and deformity, and it can extend surgery to higher risk patients who would not have tolerated a traditional open operation.