Spinal surgery has gotten better in the last 70 years – the leap from open spine surgeries to today’s endoscopy techniques has cut down the initial recovery times and promised better results than in the past.
While there were recorded examples of spine correction as early as the fifth century BC, thanks to the invention of the X-ray in 1885, doctors were finally prepared to perform invasive spinal surgeries in the early 1900s.
“X-ray imaging prompted many surgeons to propose various new spinal fusion methods that utilized exogenous metal, or bone, to aid in stabilization of the spine after surgery,” according to the Journal of Orthopaedics.
As for minimally invasive spinal surgery, it was initially hampered by invention, or the lack thereof.
Early practitioners knew they needed a way to access lumbar disc herniations without cutting open the spine, according to the Journal of Neurosurgery. As the inventions came along to provide better endoscopes, high definition cameras, graspers and drills, the stage was set for minimally invasive surgery to take off in the 1970s.
Today, minimally invasive surgery techniques continue to improve. But the pioneering is far from over, as most minimally invasive surgeries are only called such because they refer to the size of the incision. These traditional surgeries still disturb much of the surrounding bone and muscle, causing trauma that can take months to heal.
One of the new technologies available for even better minimally invasive spinal surgery is ultrasonic spine surgery. The Sonospine Sonosculpt technique allows surgeons access to the spinal canal with less disruption of bone, joints and tissue. Once at the source of pain, advanced ultrasonic instruments precisely sculpt away bone and disc to restore the spine’s normal anatomy, decompressing nerves and relieving pain.
This procedure can successfully treat most of the sources of neck and back pain, including spinal stenosis, foraminal stenosis, degenerative discs, bone spurs, herniated discs or failed back surgery.
This advanced technology of surgical ultrasound allows surgeons to address even the most complex cases without destabilizing the spine. Where some spinal fusion surgeries mean up to six months of recovery time, Sonospine procedures typically have recoveries within six to eight weeks.
If you suffer from chronic neck or back pain, you don’t have to continue living with the pain. Take advantage of excellent practitioners and cutting-edge technology, so you can return to the life you once enjoyed. Sonospine “operates under the belief that surgery can and should be better,” so visit Sonospine or call 888-957-7463 to learn more and schedule a consultation.
