The department of Neuro Surgery, SUT Hospital, Pattom, has successfully performed Percutaneous Minimally Invasive and Image-guided Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF), a complex spinal surgery, on a 70-year-old patient, who had been suffering from intense and debilitating back pain for the past six years because of a condition called Spondylolisthesis.
Minimally invasive TLIF is done in very few centres in the country, a press release issued by the hospital claimed.
TLIF is a surgical procedure for spinal fusion, a recommended procedure for conditions such as Spondylolisthesis, degenerative vertebral disc diseases and for ‘failed back’ syndrome.
‘Conventional’ or ‘open’ TLIF involves a large incision on the back, more healing time and it takes at least two weeks of hospital stay before a patient can be discharged.
Keyhole approach
“In the minimally invasive or keyhole approach, we make two smaller incisions and use special spine instrumentation to access the vertebrae with as little disruption to muscle tissues. The procedure is image-guided and uses a 3D neural navigation system, which helps the doctor to move with extreme precision between the nerve roots in the spinal cord. In the conventional TLIF, we use hundreds of X-rays or CT images of the corresponding space to get an accurate 3D space and this radiation exposure can be minimised in the keyhole approach,” Ajith R. Nair, the neuro surgeon who led the procedure, said.
The procedure is extremely safe as the neural navigation process reduces the risk of injury to adjacent vertebra and the patient could be discharged in two days, he said. Minimally invasive TLIF is a permanent, painless cure for degenerative disc conditions, Dr. Nair added.
Conditions such as Spondylolisthesis is generally seen amongst those in the older age group but because of bad posture, sedentary work and life and obesity issues, disc injuries and back pain issues are now being increasingly detected. People try out various remedies and worsen the condition before approaching the surgeon, he said.