Understanding Important Aspects of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

While performing traditional open surgery, spine surgeons view and access a patient’s spinal areas – spinal nerves, vertebrae and discs – through a long skin incision. The long skin incision often causes significant damage to muscles and ligaments surrounding the spine. The advancement in spine surgery procedure and techniques enable surgeons to perform spine surgeries without involving a long skin incision. Most spine surgeons nowadays opt for minimally invasive spine surgery to cause minimal damage to the muscles and ligament surrounding the spine by using smaller skin incisions. In addition to reducing risk of muscle and ligament damage, minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) even reduces infection, prevent blood loss, and reduce recovery time significantly.

Conditions Treated Using MISS Procedures

Like open surgery, MISS procedures also help surgeons to treat a variety of spinal problems and conditions surgically. Most skilled surgeons nowadays prefer MISS procedure to conventional open surgery to cause minimal damage to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the spine using a smaller instrument whose length ranges from 5 inches to 6 inches. They even perform MISS procedure to treat spinal infections, deformities, and instability as well as spinal tumours, herniated disc, degenerative disc diseases, and vertebral compression fractures

MISS Fusion and Decompression Procedure

The surgeon can perform MISS fusion and decompression procedure in a number of ways. But most spine surgeons perform MISS procedure using a tubular retractor. After creating a small skin incision, they insert the tubular retractor through the skin and soft tissues to access the spinal column. The retractor helps surgeons to access the damaged spinal area by creating a small tunnel. Also, the retractor keeps the muscles open while the surgeon performs the specific spine surgery. Once the surgery is over, the surgeon returns the muscles into their normal position by removing the tubular retractor. Many skilled surgeons even optimize the MISS procedure using more advanced devices and commonly used anaesthesia.

Common MISS Surgery Treatments

Doctor showing anatomical spine to his patient in medical office

As noted earlier, MISS procedure can be used for treating a variety of spinal problems and conditions. Also, the surgeons can adopt MISS procedure to perform different types of spinal surgeries. They even have option to deploy a number of techniques for MISS surgery – spinal decompression, discetomy, corpectomy, foraminotomy, spinal fusion, tumour resection and laminectomy. However, the skilled spine surgeons always decide the most appropriate MISS surgery technique based on the precise health conditions of a patient. Also, they explain the risks and benefits of MISS surgery elaborately to the patient in advances.

Risks Associated with MISS Procedure

As noted earlier, MISS procedure, unlike conventional open surgery, does not cause significant damage to the patient’s spinal area. Also, the MISS surgery techniques help patient to recover quickly and shorten hospital stays. But the recovery period may vary from one patient to another. Also, it is always important for the patients to understand the risks associated with MISS treatment. For instance, MISS procedure may lead to unexpected blood loss during the surgery and make the patient experience consistent pain at the spinal area. There are also chances that blood clots may form in the legs or nerves or blood vessels may be injured.

Most spine surgeons nowadays prefer MISS to conventional open surgeries to cause minimal damage to the patient’s spinal area. But the skilled spine surgeons always evaluate the health condition of the patient elaborately before recommending MISS procedure. They even make the patient understand the major risks and benefit of undergoing minimally invasive spine surgery.