Surgical techniques and procedures have changed dramatically over the past several decades. One transformative innovation has been the rise of minimally invasive surgery, which, as its name suggests, is markedly less traumatic to the body than traditional open surgery.
Dr. Benjamin Cohen performs minimally invasive procedures whenever possible because of their significant benefits to patients. Whether he’s repairing a herniated disc, treating scoliosis, or employing one of several surgical solutions for spinal stenosis, Dr. Cohen always considers whether this method is appropriate.
Minimally invasive methods allow Dr. Cohen to complete procedures with more precision, thanks to technological advances. As always, his goal is to relieve you of pain, restore your mobility, and reinstate your quality of life.
What makes minimally invasive surgery so much less intrusive than standard techniques is the incision process. Instead of making a sizable single incision that can be as large as six inches long through your skin, muscles, and tissues, Dr. Cohen makes just one or two very small incisions to access your spine.
He places thin tubes in these incisions, which allows Dr. Cohen to perform surgery with specially designed instruments that he can manipulate within the tubes. He may use an endoscope (a flexible tube equipped with a light and small camera on one end) or an operating microscope to do the procedure, depending on your needs.
There are many benefits to minimally invasive surgery — for both the patient and the surgeon:
Patients have:
Surgeons can:
While traditional open surgery offers advantages to certain patients with certain conditions, most can benefit from minimally invasive techniques when they’re possible. For example, for an obese patient, a long incision made on subcutaneous tissue (the fat directly under the skin) can increase the risk for postsurgical infection.
Patients who have chronic pain also do better with this type of procedure, since fewer smaller incisions typically require less pain medication. The elderly also benefit because smaller incisions mean they don’t need as much bed rest and they won’t face a high risk for developing blood clots in the leg.
Since Dr. Cohen is dedicated to providing his patients with the most advanced treatments available, he’s happy to offer minimally invasive procedures, so you can reap their rewards and recover more rapidly.
Don’t hesitate to call our office at 516-246-5008 and arrange a surgical consultation with Dr. Cohen, or reach out to us through our website. You can meet with him in person here at the office, or via a telemedicine appointment from the comfort of your own home.
