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Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
What is minimally invasive spinal surgery? Recent definitions have defined it as a spinal surgery that involves an incision of less than one inch. There has been much confusion as to what constituted this type of surgery and people were claiming surgeries to be minimally invasive when the incision was 2 to 3 inches. Thus, this recent definition tries to limit what is called minimally invasive spine surgery versus conventional spinal surgery. Procedures that utilize a needle are not surgical since no true incision is made and these are usually referred to as procedures or injections. By definition, surgery is invasive and thus it is an oxymoron to refer to non-invasive surgery since this doesn't exist. In a recent article by Scott Haufe, M.D. and Anthony Mork, M.D. the definition was elaborated on since there was much confusion over the term minimally invasive spinal surgery. As for terms such as endoscopic spine surgery, this obviously utilizes endoscopes. Endoscope are magnifying lenses that are actually placed within the body. Terms such as laparoscopy or thorascopy are just variations of the term endoscopy which applies to the general usage of the tools. Microsurgery is a misnomer term since it implies minimally invasive spine surgery and it often is that type of surgery but the term simply implies that a magnification device is utilized during the surgery and doesn't address the size of the incision. Thus, a microsurgical techniques could involve a 3 inch incision as long as a microscope is utilized. In these cases the microscope is usually a large external machine compared to the endoscope. Terms such as laser surgery, laserscopic surgery, or laser spine surgery simply imply the usage of a laser which is usually holmium or YAG variations of the laser group. Lasers offer a concentrated heat source to reduce bleeding and debride (remove) soft tissues. Lasers can remove bone but usually they are not used for this due to the length of time required to burn the bone away and because of nerves in the vicinity of the bone which would be damage due to the bone getting very hot. I hope this helps to elaborate on the terms utilized in spinal surgery.
References:
1. Sacroiliac joint debridement: a novel technique for the treatment of sacroiliac joint pain. Haufe, S and Mork A. Journal of Photomedicine and Laser Surgery.2005 Dec;23(6):596-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16356154&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum
2. MicroSpine Center References: www.doctorbuzz.com, www.microspine.com, www.microspine.net
3. Other references: www.microspine.biz, www.microspinology.com, www.microspinology.org, www.microspinoscopy.com www.microspinoscopy.org, www.neuroscopy.com, www.laserspine.net, www.mritoday.net , www.microspineinc.net, www.microspine.us, www.microspine.info www.spineteam.net, www.microspine.co.uk
4. www.spine-doctor.net www.spinedoctoronline.com www.spinenebula.com www.spinenebula.net www.spine-online.net