Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
Spine experts at El Camino Health use the least invasive techniques to diagnose and treat back pain and other spine conditions.
If you're experiencing persistent back pain, in many cases it can be treated with conservative treatments, such as anti-inflammatory medications or physical therapy. However, when back pain doesn’t respond to these treatments, surgery may offer a solution.
Whenever possible, our orthopedic spine surgeons use techniques that are less invasive than traditional open surgery. These techniques only require a few small incisions — just large enough to insert a soft, thin and flexible scope that's about the width of a pencil. The tip of the device has a microscopic camera that provides magnified, 3D images that are displayed on a video monitor, offering your surgeon a highly detailed image of your spine and surrounding tissues.
Most of these approaches are outpatient procedures that take one or two hours and are performed using local anesthesia, though some surgeries may require a short hospital stay. Treatment plans and recovery times vary, depending on the extent and severity of the injury. Your doctor will discuss all your options and develop a treatment plan that's right for you.
Benefits of Less Invasive Procedures
Less invasive diagnostic and treatment techniques can offer a number of benefits, including:
- Less trauma to surrounding healthy tissue.
- Smaller incisions, and minimal scarring and blood loss.
- Shorter hospital stays — often less than a day.
- Faster, more comfortable recovery.
- Quicker return to work and an active lifestyle.
Conditions Treated
Doctors use minimally invasive surgery to treat a variety of spine conditions, including:
- Cervical myelopathy
- Disc conditions
- Scoliosis and other spinal deformities
- Spinal infections
- Spinal stenosis
- Some types of spine tumors
- Spondylolisthesis
- Vertebral compression fractures
