Our Services / Outpatient Spine Surgery

What is outpatient spine surgery?

Outpatient spine surgery means being able to go home the day you have your back or neck operation.

In recent years, new surgical techniques and technologies and improved anesthesia have made spine surgery far safer and less invasive.

There’s a growing trend toward increasing the number of outpatient spine surgeries, which have significant benefits for patients.

What benefits does outpatient spine surgery offer?

Key benefits of outpatient spine surgery include:

• Less pain
• Lower risk of infection
• More comfortable recuperation
• Faster recovery
• More cost-effective
• Reduced scarring

Outpatient spine surgery typically uses minimally invasive or muscle-sparing techniques that don’t require the large incisions necessary in open surgery. However, not all patients are suitable for outpatient spine surgery.

Basic requirements for outpatient spine surgery include having a healthy enough body weight (body mass index or BMI below 35) and someone at home who can help care for you for the first few days.

What kinds of spine procedures are suitable for outpatient surgery?

Many of the most common types of spine surgery now take place on an outpatient basis. Those the surgeons at Advanced Neurosurgery perform include:

Microdiscectomy

Microdiscectomy involves using minimally invasive techniques to remove the damaged parts of an intervertebral disc. These discs provide cushioning and stabilization for your spine. 

However, injuries and degenerative diseases can cause problems like herniated discs that result in back and neck pain. Microdiscectomy removes the damaged tissues to relieve pain.

Lumbar laminectomy or laminotomy

Laminectomy and laminotomy relieve nerve compression caused by spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spine). They’re also known as decompression surgeries.

The laminae are the back part of your vertebrae, which can develop bone spurs and thickened ligaments. Lumbar laminectomy removes the entire lamina and laminotomy removes part of the lamina to create space for your spinal nerves.

Spinal fusion

Fusion is a procedure you might need if you have spine surgery that involves removing a disc or part of the spine like the lamina. While a discectomy or laminectomy relieves nerve compression and pain, it also destabilizes your spine.

Fusing the vertebrae on either side of the surgery site joins the bones permanently and restores stability. Approaches used in spinal fusion depend on the location of the problem and include:

• Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF)
• Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF)
• Posterior lumbar interbody fusion PLIF)
• Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF)
• Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF)

Another approach to treating spinal stenosis is to insert artificial spacers that help to open up more space in your spine.

If you’d like to find out whether outpatient spine surgery is right for you, call Advanced Neurosurgery today or book an appointment online.