What is minimally invasive surgery (MIS)?

The term minimally invasive surgery can be somewhat controversial, and can mean different things to different people. Minimally invasive surgery (often referred to as MIS) generally means surgery that is performed with smaller incisions, less tissue trauma, less blood loss, and less pain than the standard operation, but provide results as good or better than a standard more invasive surgery.

Although minimally invasive surgery is not appropriate for everyone, the vast majority of patients CAN be treated with minimally invasive or less invasive options.  Minimally invasive simple & complex spinal surgery is our specialty, and the foundation of our practice; it is not a catch phrase or a marketing term, but rather marks an underlying philosophy of how we treat our patients.

The type of minimally invasive surgery varies based on the goal of surgery. Examples of minimally invasive spinal surgeries include lateral approach interbody fusion, percutaneous pedicle screw fixation, and other spinal operations performed through small incisions, tubes or tubular type retractors, and/or microscopes. MIS surgery often results in better patient outcomes, less complications, and improved patient satisfaction compared to standard open operations (some of which can cause permanent injury to the back muscles).

It is important to always ask your surgeon how much experience he or she has in performing minimally invasive surgery, as a somewhat different skill set is required to perform these types of surgeries. As always, it’s important to ask your surgeon whether they track their own patient outcomes and can report these to you.  Our outcomes are available in our results section and published in peer reviewed journals.

Minimally invasive surgery options also apply to peripheral nerve and cranial surgery, and examples include mini open carpal tunnel release, image guided stereotactic brain surgery, and gamma knife.

For more information, please feel free to contact us at 404-299-3338.