Bradenton, Fla.-based Coastal Orthopedic physicians performed the first two cases of minimally invasive indirect decompression surgery in Manatee County, Fla.
Here are five things to know.
1. The patients were over the age of 70 and experienced continued back pain when walking. They opted to undergo the 30-minute to an hour surgery and were able to leave the hospital 30 to 45 minutes after the operations.
2. Pain management specialist Gennady Gekht, MD, performed the successful surgeries with the help of pain management specialists Douglas Constant, MD, and Justin Sirianni, MD.
3. First, Dr. Gekht made a dime-size incision in the patient's back to implant a Superion Interspinous Spacer, a minimally invasive lumbar decompression device designed to relieve spinal stenosis pain.
4. After being placed between the bones, the spacer is opened, gradually holding the two backbones apart to allow for decompression of the spinal canal.
5. Dr. Gekht has been practicing pain management for 12 years. He is among the roughly 100 surgeons who are trained to use the Superion Interspinous Spacer for indirect decompression surgery.