The acronym ‘MIS’ is short for minimally invasive spine surgery. The below factoids are six interesting things to know about MIS surgeries and how they compare to invasive open-back surgeries, like fusions.

The below content of this blog was excerpted from Becker’s Spine Review 20 things to know about minimally invasive spine surgery, written by Adam Schrag on March 1, 2017. Click here to read the article in full.

#1 – Patients often feel less pain and experience fewer complications during and after MIS procedures and their hospital stays are typically shorter than patients who undergo open surgery.

  • Kern Singh, MD, co-founder of Chicago-based Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Rush compared minimally invasive and open spine procedures and concluded that open surgery takes three hours compared to the 75-minute minimally invasive procedure.
  • In addition, Dr. Singh found that open spine surgery is associated with between 400 and 500 mL of blood loss while patients who underwent minimally invasive procedures reported 40 to 50 mL of blood loss.

#2 – The market for MIS spine surgery is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.57% between 2016 and 2020, according to Market Reports World. According to a Technavio report, minimally invasive spine surgery is growing in popularity. The market was valued at $3 billion in 2015 and the value is expected to hit $4.45 billion by 2020.

#3 – Minimally invasive surgeries such as microscopic lumbar disectomy,  and other small incision operations are ideal for athletes looking to get back to their top playing shape. Many surgeons have performed MIS procedures on professional athletes:

  • Charles Rich, MD, has performed minimally invasive spine surgery on golfer Tiger Woods
  • Luis Manuel Tumialan, MD, performed minimally invasive spine surgery on former Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen
  • Christopher Yeung, MD, performed spine surgery on MLB pitcher Brett Anderson of the Chicago Cubs

#4 – According to Newport Beach, Calif.-based Newport Orthopedic Institute, the SPORT study showed that between 85 percent and 100 percent of professional athletes returned to their pre-surgery abilities after a minimally invasive lumbar discectomy and a recovery period between 2.8 months and 8.7 months.

#5 – All spine surgeries performed in ASCs are MIS. Between 1994 and 2006, procedures for intervertebral disc disorders increased 540% and spinal stenosis procedures increased 926%. During the same time, intervertebral disc disorder cases in ASCs jumped 340%. Lumbar disc disease was the most common diagnosis for spine patients during this time period.

If you’re considering an MIS surgery and looking for help, Dr. Alfred Bonati patented many of the tools, techniques and procedures used at the Bonati Spine Institute and other facilities across the country. So, why not go where it all started? Allow our surgeons to review your case (click here) and verify if you can get back to a pain-free life!