At the Center for Advanced Spine Care of Southern Arizona we emphasize spine care that minimizes the impact of surgery on patient’s lives. Our goals are to return you to improved function by decreasing your pain with procedures that target the main pain generator. Patients often have had preexisting spinal conditions for a long time but are prompted to see a spine surgeon because of aggravating leg or back pain that can often be attributed to a focused problem.
Our practice focuses on outpatient procedures for the treatment of lumbar herniated disc (LHD) and spinal stenosis. These procedures have recently regained popularity due to technical advances in endoscopic techniques, improved optical equipment and surgical instrumentation. The utility of percutanoues and endoscopic removal of LHD has long been demonstrated. Now, newer studies have also shown merit of the endoscopic decompression for pinched spinal nerves; also known as spinal stenosis. Our procedures are targeted to treat back and sciatica type leg pain, leg numbness, tingling, and spasms that can lead to decreased ability to walk. If you have difficulty standing up straight, or find yourself leaning forward, and having to take frequent breaks to relief pain we may be able to help you.
Although not every patient may be a candidate, this outpatient approach to spine care is attractive for a number of reasons. First, smaller incisions and minimal surgical dissection promotes faster patient recovery, and earlier hospital discharge and return to function. Second, patient expectations nowadays are high since many other areas of general, and orthopaedic surgery have been transformed by the introduction of laparascopic and arthroscopic outpatient procedures to treat gallbladder disease, and hip or knee conditions. Last but not least, minimizing risks related to extensive surgical exposures diminishes, blood loss, pain, and the need for follow up surgeries that may become necessary after open spinal fusion or laminectomy surgery. Traditional spinal surgery is often followed by more surgery due to the introduction of instability, scar tissue formation, and transition syndromes affecting additional levels next to a previous spinal surgery.
At the Center for Advanced Spine Care of Southern Arizona, we currently perform our outpatient spinal procedures at the Camp Lowell Surgery Center, which is in very close proximity to our office.
We have performed outpatient endoscopic surgeries for over 9 years with good success and we have published our results. Please come see us to find out whether outpatient spine care is right for you.