What does minimally invasive spine surgery consist of? What techniques are applied?
It is a set of surgical techniques that are less invasive or aggressive for the patient, achieving at least the same results as those obtained with the existing conventional treatment, but with much less damage or complications. Damage to the vertebral muscles, surgical time, bleeding and recovery time are reduced. In short, solving the patient’s problem while reducing the risk of the operation. These techniques do not completely replace conventional surgeries, but are an additional arsenal when treating a spinal patient.
Endoscopic spine surgery, percutaneous arthrodesis, minimally invasive microdiscectomy, TLIF, XLIF, ALIF intervertebral fusion, percutaneous interspinous devices, other percutaneous procedures (vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, nucleoplasty) are some of the most common procedures.
What kind of pathologies can you treat and what are the patient’s requirements?
All spinal pathologies can benefit from these treatments. It is a philosophy when treating the patient to achieve healing or recovery while reducing the risk or “collateral” damage.
However, each patient must be carefully evaluated to decide whether one of these minimally invasive techniques or a conventional technique is better for him or her. If we need to do a very wide decompression on the spine or we need to have a wide working field, it is better to do an open surgery that for that particular case will be the best choice.
Degenerative pathology (intervertebral disc herniation and vertebral canal stenosis), traumatic pathology (vertebral fractures), tumor or congenital or infectious in some way can almost always be treated with minimally invasive techniques.
Are there any risks involved?
All surgical procedures have many risks for the patient. Those that are called “minimally invasive” aim to reduce this risk or “invasiveness” but it is impossible to cancel it out.
It is important to add that the risk depends (as everything else) on the experience and skills of the Neurosurgery specialist. If a spine specialist is not well trained in a minimally invasive technique, but has extensive experience in a conventional “open” technique, it will be better for the patient to apply the latter option, because in that particular case the risk with a minimally invasive surgery, but little known to the doctor, will be greater than with a conventional surgery, with which your doctor is familiar.
What does your recovery consist of?
Generally the recovery time is shorter, complications are less, pain is reduced, the need for medication, hospitalization time and return to work and normal life is also considerably reduced. Each particular pathology and technique will have its details.
What level of success does this type of intervention offer?
The level of success is supposed to be similar or superior to that of the conventional surgeries that have already been consecrated.
The learning curve, the time it takes for the physician to fully grasp the technique, is long and sometimes frustrating, however, once sufficient skills and experience are achieved, the level of success can exceed that of conventional or open interventions.
Once a spine specialist has mastered minimally invasive and conventional techniques equally, the chances of healing for the patient multiply.