In people with back pain, pain that radiates down the legs, and even muscle weakness after onset of spinal disc herniation that puts pressure on your nerves, and people with spinal stenosis who suffer and experience immense difficulty in daily living, if they become older and feel worried that they will burden their families, endoscopic spinal surgery is an interesting option.
Why endoscopic spinal surgery?
Even if a patient is receiving medications and physical therapy for treatment, these things can only provide temporary relief for their symptoms. When discussing surgery, most patients feel worried and anxious that they will have to have big open wounds and lose a lot of blood and that they will no longer be able to walk after surgery or even that they might never recovery after surgery.
Because modern surgical innovations and technologies have significantly progressed, today endoscopic spinal surgery is a surgical option that produces only a single small wound. It uses technology to minimize patient tissue damage, especially the muscle tissues while producing treatment outcomes that are no less successful than standard open surgery.
Endoscopic Spinal Surgery
Endoscopic spinal surgery is a minimally-invasive spinal surgery. It produces one wound only at the site of surgery that is smaller than 1 centimeter in size. Then doctors will insert an endoscope, which is an instrument to aid in performing surgery in the form of a small tube with a camera attached to the end, through the wound into the site of the cause of the pain. Because surgery is performed from displayed monitor with the help of the endoscope, it is possible to clearly and precisely see the abnormality.
Benefits of Endoscopic Surgery
It produces very minor injuries to tissues and bone, especially the muscles, and causes very little blood loss along with low risk for complications while promoting faster recovery and shorter hospitalization. After surgery, the patient can get up and walk right away and return to work sooner. Endoscopic surgery produces treatment outcomes that are comparable to normal open surgery, so it provides an excellent option for today’s society and lifestyles.
Who are suitable for endoscopic surgery?
- People with lumbar disc herniation.
- People with spinal canal stenosis, especially in Stage 1.
- People with facet cysts.
Potential Complications
Potential complications are identical to normal open surgery, but the chance of developing them is very low. They include infection in the spinal disc, post-surgery infection and dural tears, and risk for having to change from endoscopic surgery to normal open surgery. The risk of recurrence of spinal disc herniation is also about 6%.
No matter how advanced surgical technologies have progressed, treatment outcomes depend on each person. Therefore, prevention is the best method. Care for yourself in your daily life and modify your behaviors appropriately by avoiding from sitting in the same posture for a long time or lifting heavy objects. You should also avoid coughing or sneezing heavily in order to prevent impacts on your surgical wound. This is because good surgical outcome requires not only technology and the expertise of medical and nursing teams but also patient self-care.
