Minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) aims to relieve the pressure on the spinal nerves and/or stabilize the vertebral bones and spinal joints due to herniated discs, scoliosis, spinal tumors, bone spurs or spinal instability.
A person’s spinal nerves, vertebrae and discs are located deep inside the body. Because of this, any approach to access the spinal area requires moving the muscle tissues to reach it. MISS is done by creating a small incision/s and making use of instruments and/or microscopic video cameras through the incision/s. MISS surgeries also rarely use lasers unlike what other people think.
Minimally invasive surgical approaches are considered as a faster, safer alternative to open spine surgery. MISS also requires less recovery time because there are fewer traumas applied to the muscles and soft tissues. Potential benefits include:
- Smaller skin incisions that are sometimes only 2cm small results to better cosmetic results
- Less surgical blood loss
- No muscle cutting so there is reduced risk of muscle damage
- There is less risk for infection and postoperative pain
- Less rehabilitation and faster recovery time
- Lower need for pain medication after surgery
MISS surgeries also only uses local anesthesia and performed as outpatient procedures that means there is lower risk of developing adverse reactions to general anesthesia. MISS procedures can be use to treat various conditions such as degenerative disc disease, herniated disc, spinal infections, lumbar spinal stenosis, spinal tumors, vertebral compression fractures and other spinal deformities such as scoliosis.
MISS risks are low, but as with any surgical procedures, certain risks may ensue:
- Local anesthetic adverse reaction
- Unexpected blood loss
- Localized infection in the small incision area
- Small chance of requiring second procedure or full open surgery
A patient’s health care practitioner will be able to tell if a person is a good candidate for MISS. A patient may be advised to go for other options to treat his spinal condition when MISS is considered not safe for his current spinal condition. The doctor can also inform the patient about the relative risks and benefits of choosing this type of surgery and if it is the best approach to use.
