Maneesh Bawa, M.D., spine surgeon and member of The Better Way Back® community, was recently given the opportunity to write an article for U-T San Diego regarding back pain and treatment options. It should come as no surprise that he took the opportunity to tout the benefits of minimally invasive spine procedures.
After recommending that back pain patients first exhaust their non-surgical treatment options, Dr. Bawa explains what minimally invasive surgeries entail and how quickly patients usually recover from them. As Dr. Bawa writes, “Multiple studies show that, compared to standard open surgeries, minimally invasive procedures have less blood loss, less post-surgery pain since less tissue has been cut or manipulated, and less scarring. Hospital stays are shorter and recovery is quicker. Depending on the type of minimally invasive surgery, the patient may go home the same day or in the next day or two.”
The eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF) procedure, the surgery that most Better Way Back Patient Ambassadors have undergone, is an example of a minimally invasive spine surgery. As you can see in the personal stories shared on this blog, many XLIF patients return to their pre-surgery physical activities in just a few weeks or months.
Read Dr. Bawa’s article here: A Glimpse at Minimally Invasive Back Pain Procedures