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Open Back Surgery or Spinal Fusion

Laser Spine Institute's endoscopic procedures are the safe and effective alternative to open back or neck surgery.

Laser Spine Institute's minimally invasive procedure, called a endoscopic discectomy, is a simple solution to relieve the pressure within the disc which, therefore, alleviates the pain. The patient walks out of our surgical center of their own accord 2 - 3 hours after the procedure and will not experience any of the negative disadvantages that conventional fusion surgery entails.

Fusion is a conventional surgical technique in which one or more of the vertebrae of the spine are joined together ("fused") so that motion no longer occurs between them. In most instances, bone grafts from another area of the body, along with plates and screws, are placed around the spine during surgery. The body then heals the grafts over several months - similar to healing a fracture - which joins the vertebrae together. This surgery is often recommended for people with degenerative disc disease and spondylolisthesis.

Click Here to see how you can get your life back in 5 days When you fuse an area of the spine, you lose mobility in that particular region. The spine is very mobile, and fusing vertebrae together causes extreme wear and tear on the vertebrae (and discs) above and below the area of the fusion because they are trying to compensate for the area that is now immobile. This can cause new herniated discs, bone spurs, foraminal narrowing and spinal stenosis. Fusions cannot be reversed, either, and some patients who have them may experience a lifetime of spine problems and surgeries.

Fusions are too often performed for people with degenerative disc disease. The pain and symptoms of this condition all stem from nerve impingement.

Cervical disc herniations (or bulging discs) that are addressed with conventional surgery not only require removal of the entire herniated disc (discectomy), but also fusion. With this procedure, the disc is removed through an incision in the front of the neck (anteriorly) and a small piece of bone is inserted in place of the disc and hardware is placed to immobilize the area of the fusion to allow the bone graft to fuse. Again, this conventional type of spine surgery may cause more problems down the road and recuperation is long and painful.

Laser Spine Institute's endoscopic spine surgery can remove the portion of the disc that has herniated without removing the entire disc. These procedures alleviate all pain and symptoms associated with the herniation while leaving the healthy portion of the disc intact.

Spondylolisthesis and Fusions

Spondylolisthesis is a slippage and/or shifting of the vertebrae out of place. Conventional surgeries require fusions with hardware and screws to shift the vertebrae back into place. However, the majority of pain and symptoms the patient experiences stem from the development of spinal stenosis, foraminal stenosis or facet arthritis due to the spondylolisthesis, not the actual spondylolisthesis itself. Shifting the vertebrae back in to place is an invasive treatment for these conditions and some patients find their spine condition to be worse than before the surgery because of the fusion and hardware. Laser Spine Institute successfully treats spinal stenosis, foraminal stenosis and facet arthritis endoscopically. Our surgeons address chronic conditions without fusing the spine or adding hardware.

Thanks to advanced techniques and procedures performed by the medical staff at Laser Spine Institute, there are excellent and simple alternatives to fusions. Depending on the area of the spine that is compromised, either a laminotomy or a foraminotomy can be employed to effectively relieve nerve impingement. These minimally invasive procedures are able to relieve the patient's pain and symptoms without fusing the spine.

Laser Spine Institute offers various outpatient endoscopic procedures to relieve neck and back pain caused by spine conditions and nerve conditions. Procedures offered include foraminotomy, Laminotomy, endoscopic discectomy, facet thermal ablation, and fusion alternatives.

Advantages of having your spinal surgeries performed at Laser Spine Institute include no general anesthesia, no hospitalization, minimally invasive surgery, minimal scar tissue formation, and the availability of outpatient procedures.