What is minimally invasive surgery?
Minimally invasive surgery is a method of performing operations that causes the least possible tissue damage.
Traditional open surgery involves the surgeon making a large incision to directly access the operation site, but minimally invasive surgery only requires one or more small incisions. As a result, there's a significant reduction in the trauma typical of open surgery.
Your surgeon at Pain Physicians NY uses specially designed instruments to perform minimally invasive surgery. These are endoscopic – long instruments that your surgeon guides by viewing a video feed from a tiny camera at the surgical site.
For minimally invasive spine surgery, your surgeon might use a tubular retractor. This instrument goes into a small incision and holds the muscles open to create a tunnel to the surgery site.
What are the advantages of minimally invasive surgery?
Minimally invasive surgery has significant advantages over open surgery for suitable patients. These advantages include:
- Reduced blood loss
- Lower risk of complications
- Less pain after surgery
- Shorter recovery time
- Much smaller scars
As minimally invasive surgery requires such tiny incisions, you're likely to be able to return to your normal daily activities much more quickly than you could with traditional surgery.
When would I need to have minimally invasive surgery?
Most patients who have chronic pain or other musculoskeletal problems find their condition improves or, in many cases, completely resolves after following a program of non-surgical treatments such as:
- Activity modification and rest
- Physical therapy
- Chiropractic care
- Medication
- Physical aids (e.g., walkers, casts, orthopedic boots)
- Steroid injections
- Hyaluronic acid injections
- Regenerative medicine therapies
- Intra-articular laser therapy
- Ketamine infusions
- Radiofrequency ablation
However, a small number of patients find they still have pain or disability despite following a comprehensive treatment program. If this happens to you, then minimally invasive surgery might be the next step.
What conditions can minimally invasive surgery treat?
As technology advances, more and more musculoskeletal conditions are treatable using minimally invasive techniques. Ligament, tendon, and cartilage repair procedures are all possible using minimally invasive methods, as is joint replacement.
At Pain Physicians NY, one of the team’s main specialties is minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS). Using minimally invasive techniques, your surgeon can perform operations such as:
- Kyphoplasty
- Percutaneous Discectomy
- Intrathecal Pump Implants
- Spinal Cord Stimulator Implants
- Inspan (Percutaneous Fixation)
- MILD – Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression
- Rhizotomy
You might need one of these surgeries if you have a condition like degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, herniated disc, or compression fractures due to osteoporosis.
To find out more about the advanced minimally invasive surgeries available at Pain Physicians NY, call the office today or book an appointment online.
