Minimally invasive spine surgery is a safer and more effective alternative to open spine surgery. Because it requires only a small incision, patients benefit from faster recovery times, less pain, and reduced risk of muscle and soft tissue damage.

Minimally invasive spine surgery is a newer and innovative technique to spinal care. During minimally invasive spine surgery, your doctor will make a tiny incision in your low back.

The muscles around your spine will be spared by simply spreading apart the fibers with specialized instruments to visualize your spinal structures and decompress your spinal nerves. The instruments will be removed and sutures will be used to repair the tiny incisions.

Cons of minimally invasive spine surgery

There are a few downsides to having minimally invasive spine surgery. These may include:

• More challenging for the surgeon because of difficulty visualizing the surgical field
• More technical difficulty for your surgeon to perform multiple level procedures
• A relative of research regarding more rare and complex spinal problems

Pros of standard open spine surgery

There are a few pros to having open spine surgery, including:

• The techniques have been tested over many years
• Your doctor actively visualizes your spinal structures
• Your surgeon can perform surgery on multiple levels in your spine with a single large incision

Who is a candidate for a MISS procedure ?

The MISS field has developed to be able to provide procedures for a wide variety of medical conditions. In fact most spine conditions can be treated today with minimally invasive techniques. Traditional surgery remains the best option for patients of high-degree scoliosis, tumors, some infections and spine instability, but this is changing as well.

Every MISS should be individualized to the patient after a complete and thorough diagnosis.