In the case of spine surgery, bigger is definitely not better. We’re referring to the size of the incision a neurosurgeon must make to access the area they need to treat.
In traditional or “open” surgery, the surgeon must make a long incision, which is considerably more traumatic to the body. In a minimally invasive procedure, you only need one or two small incisions, which favorably impacts everything from pain level to recovery time.
As a highly respected board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Cohen has embraced minimally invasive spinal surgery — otherwise known as MISS — because of the many advantages this method offers both his patients and him. Thanks to technological advances, he can perform complex procedures with greater precision.
Minimally invasive surgery makes patients’ experiences unquestionably better. The less invasive, smaller incisions create less muscle and tissue damage, triggering a positive cascade of results post-surgery, which include:
Naturally, you’ll want to go home as soon as possible after surgery — it always feels better to be in a place you know and feel most comfortable. Fortunately, we’ve found that patients who undergo MISS procedures return home either on the same day as the procedure or one to two days afterward, but with open surgery, the hospital stay is typically five days.
Minimally invasive spine surgery is also a solution for many spine conditions, such as herniated discs, spinal stenosis, spinal tumors, degenerative disc disease, spinal fractures, and overall spinal instability.
Dr. Cohen only needs to make small incisions during minimally invasive surgery because they allow narrow tubes to be inserted, and he can use specially designed instruments to perform the needed surgical tasks.
Dr. Cohen also uses an endoscope (a device equipped with a light and tiny camera) or an operating microscope to see the treatment area. These microscopes light up and enlarge the spinal tissue on which he’s operating so he can work with a very high level of precision.
Some examples of minimally invasive procedures that Dr. Cohen performs include:
Spinal fusion melds two or more vertebrae into a single bone through the use of a bone graft and metal rods, screws, and plates, which keep the bones in place while the bones fuse over time.
In a lumbar discectomy, Dr. Cohen removes a degenerated or herniated disc.
During a laminectomy, Dr. Cohen removes the back part of the vertebrae to decompress the spinal cord.
In the world of spinal surgery, MISS has not only proven to be effective but has also fueled a significant transformation in the number of procedures executed and made the patient experience immeasurably better and more comfortable.
Call our Garden City office at 516-246-5008 to learn more about MISS’s benefits and whether you might be a candidate, or contact us through our website.
