It is a minimally invasive surgical technique that consists of making two small incisions in the back and through a camera accessing the lumbar canal in order to decompress the nerve structures, which is what causes pain.
In what cases should it be performed?
It can be performed in all those alterations of the lumbar spine that involve the compression of a nerve and cause pain, for example, in:
- Lumbar disc herniation.
- Lumbar canal stenosis.
- Narrowing of the foramen through which the nerves exit.
You are the first woman in Europe to perform biportal endoscopic surgery for degenerative pathology of the lumbar spine, how do you perform it?
Endoscopic spine surgery has guidelines for starting the procedure (where the incision is made, how the patient should be positioned, etc.) which must be highly individualized in each case according to the patient’s anatomy, weight, musculature, etc. It is performed under general anesthesia (it can also be performed with epidural anesthesia and sedation, but general anesthesia in my opinion is safer for this type of surgery).
What are the risks involved in the surgery?
Any surgical procedure always has a risk of complication. In the case of endoscopic spine surgery the risks are post-surgical hematoma, nerve injury, persistent lumbar pain after surgery.
However, the great advantage is that the risk of complication is less than 1% (much lower than the risk of other conventional spinal techniques).
What advantages does it offer?
The great advantage it offers is that it is much less aggressive to the musculature than conventional spine surgery, so recovery is faster and the possibility of complications is greatly reduced.
Another advantage is that, being a less aggressive surgery, it can be performed on young patients who need to recover quickly to be able to lead a normal life. Likewise, it is also ideal for very elderly people whose pain makes it difficult for them to perform simple actions such as walking.
Anyone of any age can benefit from this type of surgery.