NEUROSURGERY ARTICLES

MINIMALLY INVASIVE SPINE SURGERY

by Laura Paré, M.D.

Minimally invasive surgery is gaining popularity among both patients and surgeons in many different surgical fields. Spinal surgery is no exception and many of the techniques now used in minimally invasive spine surgery have been adapted from other surgical fields. Minimally invasive spinal surgery can be defined as surgical techniques designed to accomplish all the objectives of the surgical spinal procedure while disrupting normal tissues as little as possible.

The development of minimally invasive spinal surgery has been greatly influenced and made possible by recent significant advances in technology. Advances in endoscopy using thin scopes that can be placed into body cavities, and surgical navigation, which gives the ability to precisely locate an anatomic structure while it is still covered by skin, muscle, or bone, have accelerated the development of minimally invasive techniques in the spine. There are many spinal surgeries today that can be performed with minimally invasive, percutaneous techniques, passing instruments through the skin with tiny incisions. However, not all spine problems can be helped with minimally invasive techniques and sometimes the traditional, open surgical techniques are superior for certain disorders. The following spinal procedures can be performed with minimally invasive techniques at UCI Medical Center: lumbar discectomy, lumbar fusion, kyphoplasty, vertebroplasty, cervical discectomy, cervical foraminotomy, lumbar interbody fusion, and stereotactic spinal radiosurgery.

Many patients prefer minimally invasive surgeries because there is less pain, faster recovery time, and smaller scars.

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