What conditions can be treated with minimally invasive spine surgery?
Minimally invasive spine surgery can be used to treat the symptoms and improve spinal function in people with conditions like:
- Degenerative disc disease
- Lumbar spinal stenosis
- Herniated discs
- Spinal deformities like scoliosis
- Spinal infections
- Spinal instability, including spondylolisthesis
- Vertebral compression fractures
- Spinal tumors
Dr. Glickman thoroughly reviews your case to determine if minimally invasive spine surgery is the right treatment for you. In some cases, the minimally invasive approach might not be as safe or effective as traditional open surgery. Some conditions are just not treatable with this approach.
What are the benefits of minimally invasive spine surgery?
Minimally invasive spine surgery offers many advantages over traditional open spine surgery, which requires large incisions and long recoveries. You benefit from:
- Reduced trauma to the muscles and soft tissue
- Better cosmetic results because of smaller incisions
- Less blood loss during surgery
- Reduced risk of infection and pain after surgery
- Faster recovery less rehabilitation needed
- Less reliance on pain medication after surgery
Some minimally invasive spine surgeries can be done on an outpatient basis, meaning you go home to recover. Only a local anesthetic is needed for these procedures, so there’s less risk of a bad reaction to general anesthesia.
How does minimally invasive spine surgery work?
Minimally invasive spine surgery uses tiny incisions, sometimes just a few millimeters long. Dr. Glickman guides tiny instruments and a microscopic video camera through these small incisions to complete the procedure. The surgery can include discectomy, spinal decompression, or transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.
Discectomy
This trims or removes herniated discs.
Spinal decompression
This removes bone and soft tissue that are causing painful compression due to spinal stenosis or other conditions.
Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF)
This technique removes a disc and replaces it with a cage filled with bone to create more stability in people with spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease, or recurrent disc herniation.
Spinal fusion
Sometimes spinal fusion is done using minimally invasive techniques. Technological advances have improved the accuracy of incisions and hardware placement.
To learn how you can benefit from minimally invasive spine surgery, call the Center for Neurosurgery Las Vegas today or use the online tool to schedule an appointment.
