Minimally invasive surgery could be an option for you if less invasive treatments aren't relieving your pain. At Pain Physicians NY in Midtown West, Manhattan, Tamer Elbaz, MD, specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery. Minimally invasive techniques minimize tissue damage and pain while optimizing your recovery. Find out more by calling the New York City office today or scheduling a consultation online.
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.
Minimally invasive surgery has significant advantages over open surgery for suitable patients. These advantages include:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.