Medical Center (800) 924-1455

Stone Oak (800) 280-7977

in San Antonio (210) 614-6432

 

th_Paul_T_Geibel.jpgAdvances in Surgical Treatment of Lumbar Degenerative Disk Disease:

It’s Not Your Father’s Back Surgery

By Paul T. Geibel, M.D.

With 80 percent of adult Americans sustaining at least one episode of severe disabling lumbar back pain in their lives, lumbar surgical treatment alternatives are always in the news. Approximately 85 percent of these patients will improve with non-surgical interventions in the form of physical therapy, medications, pain management, or a significant lifestyle change. The remaining patients may be left with surgical decisions to alleviate their lumbar symptoms.

Have the surgical options changed? Indeed they have. A myriad of new surgical techniques and a pipeline of new technologies are being developed. Not all can be addressed in this short article, so we will concentrate on some of the newer and more efficacious surgical advances.

For patients who present with symptoms of lower extremity radicular pain or sciatica due to lumbar herniated nucleosus pulposus (HNP) or stenosis, a minimally invasive posterior approach is frequently recommended. The procedure, termed MITR (minimal invasive tubular retraction), uses a 16 mm to 18 mm skin incision with a series of cannulated tubes docked onto the appropriate intervertebral space.
 
The exact position and location is verified by fluoroscopic guidance. The decompression procedure is then usually accomplished with the aid of an operating microscope and specialized instrumentation through this cannulated apparatus. Lumbar disc fragments, synovial cysts, or osteophytic stenotic lesions can be treated in this manner in one or two level procedures. Most patients obtain a 90 percent to 95 percent improvement in their symptoms.
 
Significant advantages of this procedure include minimal tissue destruction, the fact that it can be performed in an outpatient surgical center, and patients often are able to return to light work activities within three to seven days. A majority of patients have a successful outcome from this minimally invasive procedure that avoids the increased morbidity and pain of an open procedure.

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The Spine Hospital of South Texas

The Spine Hospital of South Texas

18600 N. Hardy Oak · San Antonio, Texas 78258  
Call (210) 404-0800

The Spine Hospital of South Texas offers a safe, convenient high-quality alternative to routine inpatient hospitalization in a large hospital environment. Fully certified by the Texas Department of Health, licensed by Medicare and fully accredited with JCAHO, the Hospital is located at 18600 N. Hardy Oak Blvd, in North Central San Antonio. Call (210) 404-0800, or visit online at southtexassurgical.com .