Surgical procedures for the degenerated disc have advanced from open surgery to Endoscopic spine surgery. According to stats, there have been approx. 1.62 billion documented spinal surgeries every year in different countries. Post-operative pain and trauma are essential after minimizing the amount of tissue injury that is essential for optimizing the patient’s recovery from the surgery.
With time, everyone has seen great strides in spine surgery equipment, tech, procedures, and instrumentation. ESS, also known as Endoscopic Spine Surgery, is presently the central paradigm of how the medical institutes have come in the surgical treatment for people having neck and back pain.
Endoscopic spine surgery plays a vital role in treating adolescent disc herniations for the people engaging in athletics and competitive games where quick functional recovery, cosmesis, and lesser tissue trauma is required.
What Is ESS (Endoscopic Spine Surgery)?
ESS is a surgical process that uses small tubular systems with an endoscope and micro-incisions (<1-inch) for visualizing the surgical department. In the mean-time, endoscopic surgical approaches are utilized for treating other parts of the body like gastrointestinal, visualization of body tissues, as well as spinal imaging in many patients.
Endoscopic Spine Surgery is a modern, state-of-the-art form of minimally invasive spine surgery that provides patients with less recurring pain and a quicker recovery time than other types of spine surgery procedures. Endoscopic Spine Surgery also helps in preserving the average capacity of the spine mobility after the surgery. However, in many cases, Endoscopic Spine Surgery can be done by regional anesthesia and not the general one. This minimizes the overall medical risks in patients with medical disorders or those who are older and can have more surgical risks.
Endoscopic Spine Surgery Is Different From Other Types Of Spinal Surgeries
Do not confuse Endoscopic Spine Surgery with other traditional processes like laser spine surgeries, micro-invasive, or minimally invasive surgeries. This surgery is done under experienced spine surgeons regularly performing Endoscopic Spine Surgeries, using an endoscope and tubular retractors by offering the patients some advantages, including the following.
- The tubular retractions help reduce the requirement of cutting via softer tissues like damage or skin tissue-to-muscle injury.
- There is less loss of blood in Endoscopic Spine Surgery
- Endoscopic Spine Surgery guarantees less pain or discomfort after the surgery.
- The patient can heal and recover fast after getting Endoscopic Spine Surgery.
However, Endoscopic Spine Surgery might not be adequate for all spinal surgeries like spinal instability, scoliosis, trauma, cancer. The surgeon might recommend a minimally invasive or traditional open spine surgery in such cases.
Benefits And Risks Of Endoscopic Spine Surgery
There are benefits and risks linked to every kind of surgery. Likewise, Endoscopic Spine Surgery is no exception. Hence, you and your surgeon need to discuss the potential advantages and risks before opting for any specific method for your spinal surgery.
Potential advantages: hyper-targeted, small incisions of the surgical site mean lesser damage to the skin, soft tissues, and muscles by resulting in faster recovery and less blood loss. Moreover, most of the Endoscopic Spine Surgeries are done in about an hour by letting the patient back on their feet after a couple of hours to follow the post-operative recovery.
Potential risks involved: Endoscopic Spine Surgery is a highly skilled surgical task that is still in its early stages. And a few spinal surgeons do Endoscopic Spine Surgery regularly to master it. Mostly, Endoscopic Spine Surgery cannot be done in cases that need revision surgery, high-grade spondylolisthesis, definite spinal instability, or cancer.
What Is The Procedure Of Endoscopic Spine Surgery?
Including the block local anesthetic administration to numb the pain, the patient is prepared for Endoscopic Spine Surgery.
- A tubular trocar having a width of a pencil and a smaller skin incision to 1-inch incision is made to insert.
- Later, the endoscopic method depending on the specific patient’s identification, might access the spine by:
- either from the back/side of the range into the neuroforamen; a nerve passing way (transforaminal);
- from the back of the content among the two laminae (intralaminar) method.
- A little camera is then inserted via the trocar into the target part of the content.
The camera projects the captured real-time images through Endoscopic Spine Surgery of the operative site to a screen directly in front of the surgeon. This camera guides the surgeon and assists him in the surgical process.
After the procedure, the trocar and the camera are removed, and the incision is wrapped up with a small dressing and suture like Band-Aid.
Who Is Eligible For Endoscopic Spine Surgery?
Many patients who require endoscopic spinal surgery are diagnosed with some spinal disorder. However, many of these diagnoses have a herniation from moderate to severe, sciatica, and facet arthropathy. Nevertheless, spinal surgery is not counted as the only treatment. Before any spinal surgery, non-surgical ways are recommended. Non-surgical ways include:
- Spinal injections
- Therapies etc.
Bottomline
Advances in techniques, methods, and technology have evolved endoscopic spine surgery; however, spinal surgery can be thought of as revolutionary as per its nature. The potential advantages of this complex minimally invasive surgery, done by experienced and highly skilled spinal surgeons, can provide relief to the patients having persistent neck pain and chronic back pain.
You need to book a consultation in order to discuss your current condition and verify if you are the right candidate for this surgical procedure.