Why Should I Choose Back Surgery

By Author: Jennifer Butler
Total Articles: 16
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The success rate for back surgery has risen in recent years, making it a much more preferable treatment than it was 20 or 30 years ago. With the advancement in both the tools used and the technical skill of the physicians, patients can choose back surgery with much more confidence than before. Both the diagnostic measures and the surgical procedures and instruments help the physician diagnose the condition more accurately and then use minimally invasive techniques to conduct the spinal surgery. Even healing has improved in recent years with better methods. Back surgery isn’t what it used to be, it’s a whole lot better.

Updated Diagnostic Tools for Back Surgery

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), introduced and made available to the public in the early 1980’s, revolutionized imaging for all sorts of surgical needs, including for back surgery. An MRI machine uses a powerful magnetic field to align the magnetic nature of the protons of atoms in the body so that they can be visualized. Since MRI can image every different part of the body, the back and spine, with all of its muscle and connective tissue, it is ideal ...
... for use before back surgery. The images are taken as “slices” of the tissue and can be taken either vertically or horizontally to show the contrast of the back tissues.

Higher powered CT scanners also are available now, and they provide clear images through a similar technology as MRI with cross-sectional slices that can be viewed individually or as a 3D scan. Both the MRI and CT Scanners can help diagnose bone, ligament and muscle disorders and provide a surgeon with valuable information to use when back surgery is performed. The images help guide the surgeon, especially when he or she is performing minimally invasive back surgery.

Innovative Surgical Procedures for Back Surgery

Spinal fractures, deformities, spinal fractures and collapses are just a few of the conditions that may require spinal surgery. Several methods exist for accessing the back, with minimally invasive surgery offering the quickest recovery. Because muscle, ligaments and bone must be carefully maneuvered around in back surgery, surgeons and researchers have found ways to get to the spinal cord, slipped discs and pinched nerves without compromising the surrounding tissues. The technology is called minimally invasive surgery, with numerous techniques available for different back conditions. In this type of surgery, tiny portholes are made in the skin through which specially tooled instruments can be inserted and directed to the disc or area that is causing problems.

To picture this minimally invasive back surgery, a couple different processes are available. One is laparoscopy, in which a minute camera is inserted into another hole through a tube called an endoscope and through video transmission; the surgeon can see what he is doing inside the back with the instruments on a television screen. Another newer technology for implants is to have a patient lie on an interoperative CT scanner while asleep. This procedure reduces the incision size and recovery time with great accuracy.

Improved Back Surgeon Skills

The newer technologies of today have necessitated more training of physicians who specialize in back surgery. A successful physician will be trained in the musculoskeletal system, orthopedics and the pinnacle of a qualified surgeon will have had spinal surgery training. As new tools for back surgery are developed, doctors can attend specialized medical conferences and receive ongoing surgical technique training to learn how to use them for their patients.
With the advancements in medicine, patients can feel a lot more secure when they choose or a doctor recommends back surgery.

The author of this article has expertise in spine surgery. The articles on herniated disc reveals the author’s knowledge on the same. The author has written many articles on back surgery as well.