Laser back surgery

Our back is an essential organ of our body. Most of the movements of our body depend on our back functioning well. It requires good care to remain in good shape. If we fail to keep our back in shape we could be in risk of some serious back problems with the risk of back surgery. Laser back surgery has made a big improvement if we compare the procedures with the past. Years ago a back operation was a serious big procedure, you had to recover for weeks after it. As a result of mostly invasive procedures, people had to stay in the hospital or lay flat on your back in a bed for weeks. Often patients had to undergo an extended recovery program to recover of the surgery. Nowadays these invasive surgeries are very rare cause of laser back surgery. Treating spinal disorders has become easier and less invasive cause of this new evolution.

Laser back surgery for the back is also called arthroscopic therapy. It was used first on shoulders and knees in the 1970s. An arthroscope is inserted in a small incision on the area of the body that need to be treated. When the small tube is in place, another tube will be placed around it. This will be repeated a few times. The last tube that is placed is quite big, some 10 to 13 mm in size. The main objective of this treatment is to stretch and dilate the skin and muscle tissues instead of removing them with a surgery knife.

When everything is in place, the inner tubes are removed so that only the outer tube is in the incision. A small fibric camera will be put in place through the tube along with a laser and a suction. The surgeon can now see with the camera where he is in the body on a small computer screen. The surgeon can manually operate the devices that are in the tube. He can make very small incisions with the laser and remove blood with the suction.

Nowadays there are three main arthroscopic or laser back surgery procedures used around the world. These are:

Foraminotomy is used for treating conditions such as nerve root compressions, foraminal stenosis, pinched nerves, herniated discs, scar tissue formation, spinal arthritis and sciatica.

It's objective is to relieve the pressure on the nerves. The surgeon will make the space between the bone and the nerve larger.

There are two ways of doing this operation. The first one is an extensive open surgery under general anesthesia. If the surgeon is specialized in endoscope back surgery, the operation will be less invasive and recovery time will be lessened.

General anesthesia is needed because the patient has to lay very still. The surgeon will make a small incision, put the tubes in place and than search his way to the area of interest in the body. He can make use for blue dye and X-ray to make the point of interest more clear. When in place, the surgeon will use a sophisticated drill to open the spinal channel through which the nerve passes and is obstructed. When the indication is bone spurs, the laser back surgery is done. If the indication is disc prolapse, than the surgeon will remove "loose" pieces or a small piece of bone to relieve the tension on the nerve.

This procedure is used for removing neural compression and other conditions that can lead to spinal stenosis. This procedure is also used for herniated discs, bone spurs (osteophytes) herniated discs, scar tissue formation and spinal arthritis.

Laminotomy is the lamina of the bone at the back of the vertebra. It’s removed in a laminectomy, partially removed to make a larger opening for the nerve in a laminotomy or repaired in a laminoplasty. Laminal surgery is done from the back. Laminotomy and laminoplasty can sometimes be done with an endoscope.

This procedure is used in the treatment of facet disease. Also, conditions such as facet joint syndrome, facet hypertrophy, facet arthritis, and degenerated facet joints can be treated using this procedure. In this surgery, a surgeon uses a laser beam for destroying a spinal nerve that causes pain in the joints.

Laser back surgery is mainly an endoscopic procedure. The main part of the operation is putting the tubes in place through the small incision. This low invasive surgery has many advantages. Cause of the small incision, there is no need for general anesthesia. Because of the use of localized anesthesia, the operation time can be less than an hour and the patient will have less complaints. Another advantage is that there is relative minimal tissue damage.

Some other advantages are that the patient will loose less blood, fast recovery time, less scar tissue cause of the small incision and less complications cause of the surgery. Maybe the biggest advantage is that the patients don't has to stay in the hospital for days and weeks but can go home quite soon.