Minimally Invasive Techniques of Spine Surgery
Guest Editor: Frank M. Phillips, MD
In 2010, approximately one of six instrumented spine procedures in the United States was performed with a minimally invasive exposure. In 2016, that number is nearing one in three, with estimates that more than half of all spine procedures will be performed with minimally invasive techniques by 2020. In short, twice as much MIS surgery is being performed today compared to five and a half years ago. With the increasing adoption of MIS techniques, there has been a concomitant increase in the volume and quality of evidence available to guide evidence- and experience-based decision making.
As with nearly all other surgical specialties, minimally invasive approaches have incrementally replaced open exposures and this similar progression in spine surgery has become undeniable. The cumulative and consistent evidence in this field confirms we are near or at the tipping point of MIS procedures to be increasingly, and at some point solely, used in responsible applications with appropriate techniques in properly selected patients at the most efficient surgical venues.
Publication support provided by NuVasive, Inc.
www.nuvasive.com
