|
||||||||
 |
Send to a Colleague |
|
Doctor Profile |
Lower back pain affects four out of five adults sometime during their life
65 million Americans suffer from lower back pain every year
Each year, almost 14 million people consult a physician due to back pain
People between the ages of 30-50 are most likely to experience low back pain
Low back problems are the most common cause of disability in people under age 45
80 percent of Americans will experience back pain at some time in their lives
Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on low back pain, a leading contributor to missed work
For 85 percent of back pain sufferers, the primary site of back pain is the lower back
More than 500,000 spine surgeries are performed annually in the U.S. alone
More than 200,000 lumbar spinal fusion surgeries are performed in the U.S. each year
segments to be fused, together with the prolonged wide retraction necessary to expose the posterior spinal elements result in ischemia and denervation of the paraspinal musculature, leading to muscle loss and pain. These procedures are often associated with lengthy hospital stays and significant costs and morbidity related to muscle and soft tissue damage.
The term "fusion disease" has been applied to patients having radiographic evidence of a successful fusion but a poor clinical outcome. These patients often experience early fatigue and inability to perform heavy work following their surgery. Methods that serve to reduce these problems would be beneficial. An ideal procedure would minimize muscle and soft tissue dissection, allow neural decompression, reestablish the disc space with interbody fusion, lend itself to the application of internal fixation, and have complications that are both acceptable in nature and frequency.
Minimally invasive techniques have revolutionized the management of pathologic conditions in various surgical disciplines. A classic example is in general surgery, where laparoscopic cholecystectomy has supplanted traditional open cholecystectomy as the gold standard for the operative treatment of symptomatic gallbladder disease. Although these same principles have been used in the treatment of lumbar disc disease for many years, minimally invasive lumbar fusion procedures have only recently been developed. The goal of these surgeries, as for all minimally invasive procedures, is to minimize approach-related morbidity while achieving the same results as more traditional invasive approaches. The tremendous reduction in operatively induced pain should significantly improve the cost/benefit ratio of lumbar fusion. Toward that end, a number of new technologies have evolved that may be used to treat painful degenerative conditions of the spine via a minimally invasive surgical approach.
The Atavi system consists of the patented FlexPosure® retractor that expands distally to create a surgical field to allow for minimally invasive access to the lumbar spine. Through this single access portal a surgeon can perform the decompression, posterior or interbody fusion, and implant pedicle screw instrumentation. Visualization is achieved through the use of a fiber-optic light source, or depending on surgeon preference, an optional endoscope, microscope or surgical loupes may be used. Clinical findings using the Atavi System demonstrate a reduction in blood loss and a shorter period of hospitalization for minimally invasive versus open lumbar fusions. Preliminary outcome data also suggests that recovery following single-level minimally invasive lumbar interbody fusion is rapid compared to that following similar open surgery.
The term "fusion disease" has been applied to patients having radiographic evidence of a successful fusion but a poor clinical outcome. These patients often experience early fatigue and inability to perform heavy work following their surgery. Methods that serve to reduce these problems would be beneficial. An ideal procedure would minimize muscle and soft tissue dissection, allow neural decompression, reestablish the disc space with interbody fusion, lend itself to the application of internal fixation, and have complications that are both acceptable in nature and frequency.
Minimally invasive techniques have revolutionized the management of pathologic conditions in various surgical disciplines. A classic example is in general surgery, where laparoscopic cholecystectomy has supplanted traditional open cholecystectomy as the gold standard for the operative treatment of symptomatic gallbladder disease. Although these same principles have been used in the treatment of lumbar disc disease for many years, minimally invasive lumbar fusion procedures have only recently been developed. The goal of these surgeries, as for all minimally invasive procedures, is to minimize approach-related morbidity while achieving the same results as more traditional invasive approaches. The tremendous reduction in operatively induced pain should significantly improve the cost/benefit ratio of lumbar fusion. Toward that end, a number of new technologies have evolved that may be used to treat painful degenerative conditions of the spine via a minimally invasive surgical approach.
The Atavi system consists of the patented FlexPosure® retractor that expands distally to create a surgical field to allow for minimally invasive access to the lumbar spine. Through this single access portal a surgeon can perform the decompression, posterior or interbody fusion, and implant pedicle screw instrumentation. Visualization is achieved through the use of a fiber-optic light source, or depending on surgeon preference, an optional endoscope, microscope or surgical loupes may be used. Clinical findings using the Atavi System demonstrate a reduction in blood loss and a shorter period of hospitalization for minimally invasive versus open lumbar fusions. Preliminary outcome data also suggests that recovery following single-level minimally invasive lumbar interbody fusion is rapid compared to that following similar open surgery.