The overall goal of spine treatment should be to get at the root of the problem, causing the least amount of disruption to the patient’s lifestyle. Spine surgery is typically a choice of last resort, after all nonsurgical methods have been exhausted, or when problems like severely herniated discs or damaged vertebrae simply will not respond to nonsurgical treatments.

However, when surgery is the right course of action, it is essential for you to play an active role in selecting the best spine surgeon for you. You should look for a surgeon that specializes in spine problems rather than one that spends time treating patients with other needs, such as head, knee and shoulder injuries. As with anything else, practice makes perfect. The more a person does something, the better they get at it.

Overview
About 200,000 Americans undergo fusion surgery each year in order to relieve pain from serious degenerative disc disease and spondylolisthesis. The outcomes from these surgeries are often unpredictable, and there is no guarantee of success. New developments in minimally invasive techniques have introduced improved ways the surgeon can access the spine, therefore making the recovery process smoother and easier. These techniques are expected to eventually replace conventional surgical approaches.

Traditional, “open” spine surgery can involve a three-inch long incision, in which muscles and tissues are separated for optimal access to the injury site. Due to the resulting trauma to surrounding tissues and the amount of blood loss involved, a several-week recovery period may be required for the affected tissues and muscles to heal.

Minimally invasive surgical techniques provide the opportunity to successfully treat back problems with minimal interruption to the patient’s regular, active lifestyle. Results achieved from these methods have been proven to match that of conventional “open surgery.” The surgeon makes smaller incisions, sometimes only a half-inch in length. Through these tiny incisions, the surgeon inserts special surgical instruments and probes in order to access the damaged disc in the spine. By using minimally invasive techniques, access and repair to the damaged disc or vertebrae is achieved without harming nearby muscles and tissues. Other benefits of minimally invasive techniques include shorter surgery duration and recovery time, less visible scars and reduced pain and blood loss.

Benefits

• Less recovery time
• Less post-operative pain
• Less blood loss
• Less damage to tissues and muscles
• Smaller scars
• Quicker return to activity

Minimal access spinal technologies (MAST)
The development of minimal access spinal technologies (MAST) enables spine surgeons to create the least amount of invasion possible, while at the same time achieving identical results as open spine surgery. The use of these tools creates a smaller surgical area in which to work because of the acute accuracy they provide.

BMP
Bone is often taken from the hip of a patient during traditional fusion procedures. This process, however, can cause just as much pain and discomfort as the actual surgery itself. An alternate method is the use of a bone-growth substance that eliminates the need for harvesting bone from a person’s hip.

Bones contain traces of protein extracts that are required for the bone to heal or regenerate. This substance is called bone morphogenetic protein, or BMP. In order to initiate bone formation, there needs to be an ample amount of the protein available. Scientists have produced a usable form of the bone-growth stimulant BMP (“bone morphogenetic protein”) that is now being used in place of bone harvested from a patient’s hip. This bone graft is made from pure bone protein (minerals and collagen) and absorbable collagen sponge that promotes new bone formation. Studies have shown that the positive results achieved from surgery using BMP match that of an autograft procedure (in which bone is taken from the hip).

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