Whether you’ve been sitting at your computer for hours or adjusting to a new exercise program at the gym, back pain is very familiar to you and creates a very uncomfortable feeling.
This is a very common occurrence in both healthy and sick people, and the causes are various. It is believed that as many as 85% of the human population will feel back pain at some point in their lives, and when something like this happens, you should not suffer and wait for the pain to pass on its own.
It is necessary to choose the appropriate method of treatment that will facilitate and speed up recovery, but also prevent the recurrence of pain in the future. Spinal disc herniation is one of the most common causes of back pain that radiates through the hip into the legs.
Endoscopic spine surgery is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that successfully regulates the problem of spinal disc herniation and enables rapid recovery of the patient.
What is a disc herniation of the spine?
A spinal disc herniation is a displacement of the disc from the intervertebral space in the lumbar part of the spine, whereby the nerve root is pinched.
With narrowing of the intervertebral space and loosening the nearby ligament, the disc can prolapse (the disc protrudes from its space) and put pressure on one of the nerves, causing severe pain along the leg, sometimes with a motor deficit (weakness or “fall” of the foot) in some more drastic cases with urination issues.
The goal of the operation is to release the compressed or pinched nerve (disc herniation) by removing the prolapsed part of the disc.
Dr. Nenad Zivkovic performs endoscopic spine surgery
Endoscopic operations on the spine are performed at the Atlas Hospital within the Center for Spinal Surgery, headed by Dr. Nenad Zivkovic. Dr. Zivkovic deals with minimally invasive procedures in spinal surgery, spinal endoscopy, tubular techniques as well as non-invasive infiltrative pain therapies. Dr. Nenad Zivkovic performs endoscopic spinal surgery with the help of special instruments and video cameras, through small incisions.
How endoscopic spine surgery is performed
During the endoscopic procedure, the surgeon makes a small incision through which a guided wire is inserted. This instrument is used to locate a damaged part of the disk. A fluoroscope (a specially designed X-ray machine) is used to ensure proper movement of the instrument to the damaged disc.
The surgeon then places a number of dilatation tubes, placed over a guide to separate the tissue from the vertebrae. The surgeon then removes the guide. The procedure itself is performed through a tubular retractor which is placed over the dilatation tubes and on the bone surface. After the insertion mechanism is in place, the surgeon removes the dilatation tubes.
A small camera and a special surgical light are used to view through the probe. Surgical instruments are used to separate soft tissue from bone. The nerve separates from the damaged disc and then the surgeon removes the herniated part of the disc and cleans the area. Then the nerve returns to its normal position.
At the end of the endoscopic spine operation, the tubular retractor is removed. All you need is a small special patch (sterile strip) to cover the incision.
Advantages – endoscopic spine surgery
This procedure reduces scars, pain after the operation, speeds up recovery, so that post-operative complications are practically reduced to a minimum. The trauma that occurs during access to the target area is significantly less when minimally invasive surgery is applied.
The potential advantages of minimally invasive surgery over open surgery – such as pain reduction, sparing blood loss, shorter hospital stay after surgery, and therefore a shorter recovery period – are very important for the patient and the success of the operation.
The team of experienced surgeons of Atlas General Hospital successfully performs all types of spine operations:
- Spinal fusion
- Laminectomy
- Foraminotomy
- Disectomy
- Microdiscectomy
- Disc replacement
- Interlaminar implant
With us, you can perform all the necessary examinations, analyzes, as well as the spine surgery in a very short time, in the most comfortable conditions, with the application of modern equipment and technology.
If you have any questions, feel free to make an appointment by calling: +381 11 785 88 88
