Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery in the Nuevo Hospital Civil De Guadalajara "Dr. Juan I. Menchaca"

Abstract

Objective: To describe our experience on a case series treated with minimal invasive techniques in spine surgery, with short-term follow-up and identify complications. Methods: A prospective analysis was performed on 116 patients operated on by the same team from September 2015 to June 2016. Evaluating the short-term follow-up we registered the surgical time, bleeding, complications, hospital stay, pre-and postoperatively neurological status, as well as scales of disability and quality of life. Demographic and surgical procedure data were analyzed with SPSS version 20 program. Results: A total of 116 patients with a mean age of 49.7 + 15.7 (21-85 years) underwent surgery being 76 (65%) with lumbar conditions and 37 (32%) with cervical conditions. The most common procedures were tubular discectomies (31), tubular bilateral decompression (17), lumbar MI-TLIFs (7), and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (35). The mean blood loss was 50.6 cc, the hospital stay was 1.7 day, pre-and postoperative pain VAS were 7.4 % and 2.3%, respectively, pre-and postoperative Oswestry (ODI) were 64.6% and 13.1%, respectively, pre-and postoperative SF-36 of 37.8% and 90.3%. There were no major complications, except for a surgical wound infection in diabetic patient and three incidental durotomies, one of these being a contained fistula, treated conservatively. Conclusions: The current tendency towards minimally invasive surgery has been justified on multiple studies in neoplastic and degenerative diseases, with the preservation of the structures that support the spine biomechanics. The benefits should not replace the primary objectives of surgery and its usefulness depends on the skills of the surgeon, pathology and the adequate selection of the techniques. We found that the tubular access allows developing techniques such as discectomy, corpectomy and fusion without limiting exposure, avoiding manipulation of adjacent structures, reducing complications and being feasible in a public hospital.