Outpatient spine surgery
Until recently, spine surgery has been an intensive procedure requiring an inpatient hospital stay and long recovery time. Now minimally invasive surgical techniques are making outpatient surgeries possible. With technological advancements, minimally invasive spine surgery treats many conditions that use to require open surgery, which involved a long incision and muscle retraction in getting to the problem area.
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Minimally invasive techniques & outpatient spine surgery
The benefits of minimally invasive procedures over traditional open surgery include:
- Safer with a lower risk of complications
- Less pain and blood loss
- Less damage to muscles and soft tissue
- Shorter hospital stay
- Quicker outpatient recovery
- Smaller incisions, with less noticeable scars
Minimally invasive surgical techniques are less intensive and enable patients to recover at home instead of at the hospital.
Learn More About Outpatient Surgery
Four of the most common types of outpatient back surgery done at Florida Orthopaedic Institute are lumbar microdiscectomy, lumbar laminectomy, anterior cervical decompression and fusion, and anterior cervical disc replacement. These surgeries are performed using minimally invasive techniques that cut the outpatient back surgery recovery time and only need a small incision.
Lumbar microdiscectomy
A microdiscectomy (also called a microdecompression) is usually used for relieving leg pain (also known as radiculopathy or sciatica) than lower back pain. A microdiscectomy reduces the pressure on a spinal nerve root by removing the material causing the pain, and is typically performed for a herniated disc. A small part of the bone over the nerve root or disc material under the nerve root is removed during the minimally invasive procedure.
Lumbar laminectomy
This surgery creates space by removing the back part of a vertebra covering your spinal canal (the lamina). This operation enlarges your spinal canal to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or nerves. It is also known as a decompression surgery.
Anterior cervical decompression & fusion
The anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) procedure removes a damaged disc to relieve spinal cord or nerve root pressure. It helps ease pain, weakness, numbness, and tingling. The procedure is also called an anterior cervical decompression because discectomy is a form of surgical decompression. The surgery has two parts; the anterior cervical discectomy and the fusion. The surgery starts through the front (or anterior) of the neck (cervical spine) in the discectomy. The disc is removed from between two vertebral bones. Fusion surgery is done at the same time as the discectomy to stabilize the cervical part of the spine. A fusion places bone graft or implants in place of the disc to provide strength and stability to the area.
Anterior cervical disc replacement
Also known as total disc arthroplasty or artificial disc replacement, this surgical procedure uses a front approach (anterior) to the cervical spine. This is the same approach used for an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery to remove a damaged disc.
Improvements in surgical techniques and technology over the past decade have allowed for more spine surgeries to be performed in outpatient surgery centers, outside of the traditional hospital setting. Here are some frequently asked questions about outpatient spine surgery.
FAQs
Outpatient surgery centers are ambulatory care (medical services performed on an outpatient basis) facilities where the staff is focused only on performing outpatient surgery. This specialization requires the commitment and integration of the surgery team. For spine surgery, surgeons may use different anesthetic techniques, strategies for moving patients, and post-surgery pain treatments.
Outpatient surgery centers allow patients to have a shorter procedure and a quicker recovery, so they can quickly get back on their feet. Patients leave the same day, with cost savings compared to an overnight stay in a hospital. Most patients prefer to recover in the comfort of their homes. Outpatient centers provide a more personalized experience. With a smaller footprint and parking close by, it provides easier access for patients.
There is definitely an increase in outpatient spine surgeries. Some of the reasons for this include convenience, better patient experience, decreased cost, patient demand, and the desire to deliver a more patient-friendly experience.
Outpatient surgery centers usually offer the same surgical services as hospitals. Care delivered after surgery is different. Outpatient surgery centers discharge the patient that day or the next morning. If extensive rehabilitation or physical therapy is required after surgery, those services are provided on an outpatient basis, so the patient remains at home, rather than in the hospital.
Good candidates for outpatient surgery have the cause of the condition well defined. Also, the patient would have seen no improvement despite a reasonable amount of nonsurgical care. If those conditions are met, they would also:
- Have no other medical conditions
- Is of normal weight (body mass index, or BMI, less than 35)
- Have enough family or social support at home
- Have a realistic expectation of some pain and discomfort despite reasonable pain-relief strategies
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Related specialties
- Anterior Cervical Corpectomy & Discectomy
- Artificial Disc Replacement (ADR)
- Bone Cement Injection
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH)
- Discectomy
- Discitis Treatment & Information
- Epidural Injections for Spinal Pain
- Foraminotomy
- Interlaminar Implants
- Interlaminar Lumbar Instrumental Fusion: ILIF
- Kyphoplasty (Balloon Vertebroplasty)
- Kyphosis
- Laminectomy: Decompression Surgery
- Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection
- Lumbar Interbody Fusion (IBF)
- Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
- Pinched Nerve
- Piriformis Syndrome
- Sacroiliac Joint Pain
- Sciatica
- Scoliosis
- Spinal Fusion
- Spondylolisthesis & Spondylolysis
- Vertebroplasty
- Whiplash & Whiplash Associated Disorder (WAD)