Where is Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Headed?

For Clariance Spine Sept. 21, 2017

Minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) has grown exponentially over the last decade. From 2005 to 2015, MISS has grown to nearly 45 percent of all spine cases done on an outpatient basis. This compares to approximately 5 percent in 2005, according to the Society for Ambulatory Spine surgery.

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The reasons for this trend are easy to understand, smaller incisions reduce the risk of infection, decreases pain, reduces damage to back muscles and facilitates faster recovery.

At the same time the number of conditions treated with minimally invasive spine surgery has also grown to a list that includes, lumbar and cervical pain, sciatica, herniated discs, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease, fractures, infections and tumors.

This has occurred in part because the skill of surgeons doing minimally invasive surgery has grown to a point where more complex procedures are performed through the one or more small incisions or punctures, tubular retractors and or with an endoscope. With that advancing skill, spine surgery is now performed from a variety of approaches, depending on the diagnosis, as well as the type and location of correction needed.

Now patient options include:

• Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF)
• Direct Lateral Interbody Fusion (DLIF / XLIF)
• Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF)
• Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (PLIF)
• Posterior/transforaminal lateral interbody fusion (P/TLIF)
• Interspinous process decompression (IPD)
• Trans-sacral Fusion at L5-S1
• Transfacet Fusion

So where is minimally invasive spine surgery headed in the future? In a Feb. 2017 Becker’s Spine Review interview with Director of Clinical Research at Tampa, Fla.-based Laser Spine Institute Reginald J. Davis, M.D., sees minimally invasive spine surgery becoming the optimal solution for patients suffering from chronic neck or back pain, and that MISS may often be the clinically appropriate first choice versus open surgery.

He also believes that as additional studies around minimally invasive spine surgery showing positive outcomes, more surgeons and facilities will incorporate MISS into their practices.

Clariance was founded to provide surgeons with the spinal implant devices that enhance the safety and success rates of the surgical procedures they perform to provide patients with optimal outcomes. Our FDA and CE approved portfolio of products combine ergonomically designed tools with devices with demonstrated safety and durability for whatever MISS procedure is indicated for the patient’s condition and surgeon’s preferences.