The Neurosurgical Spine Services Division has helped advance minimally invasive, minimal access spine surgery. There has been a trend towards smaller incisions and less localized trauma to the perineural tissues in an effort to improve upon clinical outcomes. A secondary benefit of these approaches may be shortened hospital stays.
Minimally invasive or minimal access spinal surgery has been advocated for certain lumbar and cervical pathology, such as disc ruptures. Earlier attempts at minimal access techniques were hindered by limitations in visualization, physician non-familiarity with minimal-access technologies, and lack of availability of high-quality commercially-available surgical adjuncts such as minimal access ports and endoscopes.
Spine surgeons now perform minimal access procedures on a routine basis. These procedures employ technologies which were not available until recently. Each technique builds upon and supplements traditional surgical approaches. The Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Program at UPMC is under the direction of Adam S. Kanter, MD.
Some minimally invasive spine surgergies available at the Spine Services Division include:
Cervical Discectomy
Over the past 20-30 years, anterior cervical approaches have been used to address and correct disc rupture and spinal cord compression.
Kyphoplasty
Kyphoplasty is a technique for vertebral compression fractures that involves the introduction of a cannula into the vertebral body followed by the insertion of an inflatable balloon.
Lateral Access Spine Surgery
Patients with back pain necessitating lumbar spinal fusion procedures have historically required extensive operations resulting in significant blood loss, post-operative pain, and a prolonged hospital stay with physical rehabilitation.
Lumbar Discectomy
The microdiscectomy procedure has been the "gold-standard" technique for unilateral disc resection.
Stalif-C
A herniated disc in the cervical spine is most often the result of the normal aging process called degenerative disc disease. It can also be due to a more acute event such as direct trauma to the cervical spine.