Is microsurgery the same as minimally invasive or endoscopic spinal surgery?
Although the names sound similar, they are in fact two totally different things. Microsurgery only means that an operating microscope was used at some point during the surgery. The incision could be 3 to 4″ long. It has nothing to do with the length of the incision. A surgical microscope is not what you might imagine. These are not small microscopes. These microscopes are about 6 feet tall and weigh a ton, but they can provide light and magnification, two of the benefits of endoscopic spinal surgery. Ultimately the patient usually does not care about the use of a microscopic, but is interested in the size of the incision. The literature has defined minimally invasive spinal surgery as having an incision of an inch or less, although I have seen patients who have had quite a bit longer, but were told that they had minimally invasive surgery.
