Laser spine surgery was created as part of the latest development in surgery all over the globe to make any type of operative procedure as minimally invasive as achievable by creating techniques that would require making only a tiny incision, through which an endoscope is passed and serious tissues are burned away with a laser. In comparison to big procedures, these procedures lead to less injury and minimal blood loss for the patient. As a result, minimally-invasive spinal operations are becoming more and more efficient with the many modern techniques experiencing a remarkable surge. Laser back surgery is technically termed as Minimally Invasive or Laser Endoscopic or simply Laser Spine Surgery.
When compared with the use of a scalpel, laser spine surgery only has to make a Πto ٠inch cut which gives it quite an advantage though many types of this operative treatment that are identical in therapeutic objective to many regular major spine operations. Laser spine surgery, unlike major spine surgery, is not conducted under typical anesthesia. Rather, it is conducted while the patient is under what is called "twilight sleep" or conscious sedation, wherein the patient could not experience any pain but is awake enough to respond to surgeon`s questions and say if relief is felt. The anesthesia for conscious sedation is provided via a percutaneous injection.
Instead of being cut in major invasive surgeries, laser spine surgery spreads the muscles and soft tissues. Blood loss can also be avoided as any cut blood vessels are promptly cauterized. These aspects lead to a faster recovery time for the patient. In just 2 weeks, the patient can return to work and live without limitations after 6 weeks.
Obese patients can also be operated on quite simply and only a few would need postoperative pain medicines. Some doctors may even conduct these operations in an outpatient setting. Based upon the spine institute and pain management center and its services, and the training of its surgeons, not all hospitals would be prepared to conduct certain types of endoscopic spinal surgeries. With this in mind, it would be best to first find out which hospitals has the finest facilities and competent specialists that could work with you if ever you plan on undergoing endoscopic spine surgery. A good spine center that provides a broad range of laser spine
surgery treatments is MicroSpine.
Their physicians can perform these endoscopic procedures outlined below...
Foraminotomy - excision of the top of the intervertebral foramen;
Foraminoplasty - in cases foramenal stenosis, this procedure increases the size of the intervertebral foramen;
Laminotomy- a part of the lamina of the vertebral arch is excised during the operation to relieve the damaged spinal cord or nerve root;
Discectomy;
Vertebroplasty;
Facetectomy - the articular facet of a vertebra is excised in this procedure;
Facet Joint Surgery;
Corpectomy - extraction of a vertebral body;
Spinal Fusion Alternatives;
Laminoforaminoplasty - As a way to prevent deeper impingement on nerves, bone is extracted to modify the lamina and foramen;
Endoscopic Hardware Excision;
Thoracic Discectomy;
Ligament Injury Surgery;
Sacroiliac Joint Surgery;
Nowadays, the study and improvement on different types of
laser spine surgery carries on and these cited above are just some of them.
