“Data provides a compelling argument that the minimally invasive surgery approach is vastly superior [to open surgery],” Dr. Haque said. During the presentation, Dr. Haque shared reasons why minimally invasive spine surgery can be a better option for patients than open spine surgery, including the following:
• Decrease in tissue and muscle trauma
• Decrease in physiologic stress of surgery for patients
• Decrease in complication rate
Even with the benefits minimally invasive surgery provides, some types of spine surgery are still more commonly done with open surgery, such as deformity surgery. “Open surgery for that is most standard,” Dr. Haque said, but then went on to explain how minimally invasive procedures can be used for those types of surgeries. For example, in the case of a minimally invasive surgery for scoliosis, he recommended laying the patient on his or her side in order to approach laterally.
Dr. Haque noted that there needs to be a paradigm shift in spine surgery in order for minimally invasive procedures to be widely accepted and used, since, as he put it, “we are approaching the point where nearly all spine [surgeries] can be done through minimally invasive surgeries.”
