When conservative therapy fails to bring relief and individuals’ daily life and work activities are limited by back pain, back surgery may be the best option. However, we do not believe in torturing our patients to treat their underlying back problem. That’s why Inspired Spine is transforming the standard of care for truly minimally invasive spinal surgery with our groundbreaking fluoroscopic spinal surgery techniques.
Surgery, by definition, is invasive. Surgeons open up the body to see and work on a damaged or diseased area inside. Sort of like “getting under the hood” of your car to fix the engine, but using a blowtorch to do it. The engine may be fixed, but imagine the body work needed to repair the exterior damage!
Some treatments are more invasive than others. In open-heart surgery or total hip replacement, for example, the bodily damage created by the procedure is often the most painful and long-lasting aspect of the recovery process. Back surgery – particularly spinal fusion – has long been in that category.
In contrast, non-surgical back pain treatments do not require an incision or removal of any tissue.
About 30 years ago medical experts started to think about improving the cost-benefit ratio of surgery for patients by reducing incision size and the damage it can cause. The field of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) was born.
Since then, MIS science has advanced from endoscopy (literally endo- “inside” and -scope “look”) and laparoscopy to fully remote-controlled robotic techniques. Instruments inserted through small cuts or natural body openings (such as the esophagus) allow surgeons to visualize and treat many kinds of problems from outside the body.
Today, fluoroscopic surgery is routine in many non-spinal procedures, ranging from cardiology to orthopedics. Fluoroscopy is a type of medical imaging that projects a continuous X-ray image of the surgical site on a monitor. The surgeon can use the fluoroscopic image to view the surgical site and more precisely perform the surgery with a much smaller incision.
Because the wound is tiny, and the surgeon is not cutting through any muscle, patients have less pain. They get better faster and go home sooner. They also experience fewer risks from fluoroscopic back surgery.
MIS techniques for the spine have not kept pace with the rest of medical technology. This may be because the spine is integrated into the core structure of your body and because it has no natural openings or body cavities or because neurosurgeons are reluctant to give up direct visualization of their work. As a result, MIS of the spine is often MIS-applied to open surgery techniques with slightly smaller incisions. This is particularly true of spinal fusion surgery.
Although the incision utilized in minimally invasive spinal surgery is smaller, the overall effect is similar to open surgery:
Some less invasive spinal fusion methods, such as the XLIF, use several smaller incisions (as opposed to a single large incision) and don’t actually cut muscle. Instead, they split the muscle fibers with retractors to view the spine. Nevertheless, it can still take as long as a few months for patients to be able to return to their normal activities.
Inspired Spine is advancing the science of MIS spine surgery by 20 years with our unique fluoroscopic approach. The surgery is performed through a small portal (just 10 millimeters or smaller than a dime), that avoids cutting, disrupting, or damaging back muscles and ligament structures. These advanced MIS technologies lead to faster surgical procedures, shorter hospital stays, and faster patient recovery.
Do you have back pain that won’t improve on its own? Contact us at Inspired Spine to speak to a Patient Care Coordinator by dialing (952) 225-5266 today. We offer risk-free, complimentary patient consultations and accept most forms of insurance, including Medicare.
Is neck or back pain restricting your daily activities? For 6 months or more? Have non-surgical treatments failed to help?
Over 1,000 patients have benefited from Inspired Spine MIS Surgeries. See testimonials from just a few.
Not all MIS Spine Surgeries are Created Equal.
