What are minimally invasive procedures?
Minimally invasive procedures are those which can be performed through very small skin incisions, usually under local anesthesia, or IV sedation; often on an outpatient basis, thereby avoiding both general anesthesia and hospitalization, and contributing to a speedier recovery and return to normative levels of activity. Often, these are referred to as “band-aid surgeries”, and some are similar to arthroscopy performed by Orthopedic Surgeons, and laparoscopic procedures performed by General Surgeons and Gynecologists. There are numerous advantages to these procedures, and they are increasingly being adopted by spinal surgeons around the world. However, these procedures should not be treated lightly, nor should the risks be minimized or dismissed; these are truly surgical operations and carry their own subsets of surgical risk. Also, there are definite technical limitations to these procedures, and they are not appropriate for all patients, or all conditions. Some of the commonly perform
