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NEWS
Minimally invasive surgery helps heal back pain
As many Tri-State residents have found over the years, being down in the back with back pain is no laughing matter. While a number of options are available for back pain, more people are turning to minimally invasive surgery, said Betsy Donahue, a spokeswoman for King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland.
"Back pain is one of the most common ailments, and almost everyone experiences back pain at some point in their lives," said Dr. Clark Bernard, a King's Daughter neurosurgeon. Both men and women are impacted by lower back pain, and most back pain occurs between the ages of 25 and 60. Eighty percent of adults will call off work at some point because of significant back pain.
Most back pain improves with time, according to Dr. James S. Powell, a neurosurgeon. "A majority of patients experience relief from back pain within a few days to weeks," Powell said. When pain persists, however, treatment options include anti-arthritic medication, physical therapy, chiropractic care, steroid injections and surgery.
"Surgery is a last resort," Bernard said. "Actually, we try everything we can to not operate. Only a minority will have back surgery, but the decision is usually up to the patient. And when they reach the breaking point with their pain, they're ready to talk about surgical options."
"Spine surgery always has been something people have dreaded," said Dr. Jerrel Boyer, a King's Daughters neurosurgeon. While in the past, back surgeries have meant long hospital stays, technology now is more patient friendly both in procedure and recovery.
Best of all, Boyer said, 90 percent of those who have back surgery will get significant pain relief or be cured, he said.
Minimally invasive spine surgery leaves few, small scars and requires less than a day's stay in the hospital, Donahue said. Minimally invasive surgery uses an endoscope or microscope, which calls for a thin, video camera that gives a view of the inside of the body. The surgeon then uses small surgical instruments through the incision, which is less than an inch wide.
Many surgeons option for minimally invasive back surgery because it produces smaller incisions, quicker recover time, quicker return to work for patients, less post operative pain and less bleeding and less risk for infection.
