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Minimally invasive surgery is now a reality for spine surgeries, including surgery to treat scoliosis. Thanks in great part to revolutionary procedures developed by Richard G. Fessler, MD, PhD, a surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and professor of neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and his team, minimally invasive spine surgeries have given new hope to patients with scoliosis and other spinal injuries and deformities.
In the past, spine surgeries were done by cutting muscle away from the spine. But now, with a process called tubular retraction, surgeons can use a minimally invasive approach to put a needle through the muscle and use a series of dilators to spread the muscle apart and insert the retractor (a tube about two-and-a-half centimeters in diameter), into the opening. That then becomes one of the channels through which surgeons work. Then, an endoscope and surgical instruments are inserted through the channels to complete the spine operation. Once the surgery is complete, the working channels are removed, and the patient’s muscular anatomy remains 100 percent normal. This allows patients to recover much faster than they do with traditional open surgeries. Some spine surgeries can now even be done on an outpatient basis.
Watch a Live Surgery to Treat Scoliosis
Watch Dr. Fessler's previously-recorded minimally invasive spine surgery to treat scoliosis. Dr. Fessler and the team at Northwestern Memorial pioneered the minimally invasive procedure, which is transforming the way scoliosis patients are treated. It offers many benefits to the patients, including:
Contact
If you would like to make a first time appointment with one of Northwestern Memorial’s neurologists, call our Physician Referral Service at (877) 926-4664 or request an appointment online.
