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Pros & Cons of Laser Spine Surgery over Open Spine Surgery

Often doctors perform spine surgery to make a person sit, stand, and walk comfortably over an extended period of time. The surgeons can perform spine surgery in a number of ways. Some doctors prefer traditional open spine surgery, while others opt for minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) or laser spine surgery. But many doctors these days prefer laser spine surgery to open spine surgery to keep the surgical procedure fast and safe.

Unlike open surgery, MISS is conducted using small incisions. The surgeon uses a video camera to observe the affected area, and carry out the spinal procedure using small surgical instruments. A number of studies suggest that both spine surgery technique result in similar clinical outcomes. But it is always important for the patients to assess pros and cons of both open spine surgery and laser spine surgery.

Important Differences between Open Spine Surgery and Laser Spine Surgery

Blood Loss

Many surgeons switch from open spine surgery to laser spine surgery to reduce blood loss significantly. A number of studies suggest that open spine surgery makes the patient lose 400 ml to 500 ml of blood. On the other hand, a patient loses 40 ml to 50 ml of blood if the surgeon performs laser spine surgery.

Spinal Procedure Time

Open spine surgery technique requires the surgeons to put extra time and effort. Normally, a skilled surgeon needs around 3 hours to carry out open spine surgery. On the other hand, the surgeon can complete laser spine surgery procedure in around 75 minutes. Many surgeons these days opt for laser spine surgery technique to speed up the spine surgery procedure.

Spinal Procedure Cost

The cost of spinal surgery varies from one surgeon to another. Normally, the skilled surgeons require patients to incur additional expenses.  The patient even needs to be admitted to a hospital for opens spine surgery and stay in the hospital for a few days to recover. But the surgeons can perform MISS in open environments. Many surgeons these days recommend laser spine surgery to patients to save both time and money.

Complications

While carrying out open spine surgery, surgeons have to put extra time and effort to reduce trauma during surgery and prevent complications after surgery. But the surgeons can reduce trauma while carrying out laser spine surgery in a number of ways – using tubes to isolate muscles, using smaller incisions to facilitate surgery and approaching the spine from the side of the body to reduce pain.

Radiation Exposure

While performing laser spine surgery, surgeons use fluoroscopic guidance. The fluoroscopic guidance exposes both patient and doctor to radiation. Many surgeons prefer open spine surgery to laser spine surgery to prevent radiation exposure. However, many skilled surgeons leverage emerging technologies to minimize radiation exposure. They even leverage robotic guidance to accelerate the spinal surgery and minimize radiation exposure.

On the whole, the surgeons can carry out spinal procedure using either open spine surgery or laser spine surgery. Unlike open spine surgery, laser surgery is a new age spinal surgery technique. Many doctors these days opt for laser surgery to keep the surgical procedure fast and safe. But the patients must remember that outcome of the spinal procedure will depend of the surgeon’s expertise and skill level.