Introduction: Endoscopic spine surgery has attracted both surgeons and nonsurgeons in increasing numbers as endoscopic spine systems, a variety of spine endoscopes, and new and evolving surgical instrumentation are developed. The procedure, using fluoroscopically guided percutaneous techniques, are getting more standard, easier, safer, readily reproducible, and more cost effective. It has also been an avenue for surgeons and a few appropriately trained and certified non-surgeons to participate in a minimally invasive, procedure oriented health care delivery platform that provides cost effective results after failure of nonsurgical methods. Such a multidisciplinary team has been established at the University of New Mexico through a donation to the University by the first author.
Discussion: Asia, especially China and Korea, has seen adoption of endoscopic spine surgery grow exponentially in the past few years, recognizing that endoscopic spine surgery may be the answer to delivering cost effective spine care to their working and aging population. Two basic methods are the mainstay of current endoscopic techniques. The least invasive techniques in the lumbar spine are transforaminal, but translaminar endoscopic approaches are better accepted and easier for endoscopic surgeons to grasp.
Conclusion: Endoscopic spine surgery has great promise in countries with looking for cost effective delivery of health care to its population. Endoscopic surgery is the least minimally invasive surgical platform that will facilitate a move away from fusion as a first line of surgical treatment, delaying or eliminating fusion for patients who may have indications for decompression and fusion, but do well with an earlier and staged procedure that will mitigate the need for open decompression and fusion by 75%, derived by large individual and group databases known to this author.
Background/purpose: Operating under local anesthesia allows the patient to respond and provide feedback during surgery that is invaluable for patient safety and for the assessment of the pain generators and ultimately understanding of the source of pain that the surgeon is targeting. Over 10,000 case studies make up the database for information gleaned from patients reporting the pain experienced and relieved during translaminar and transforaminal endoscopic decompression.
Method: The patient is provided mild sedation with versed and fentanyl unless no sedation is requested. Patients requesting no sedation are usually anesthesiologists and other spine surgeons who opt for decompressive surgery, but wanted some measure of surgical participation and control. The anesthesiologist titrates the patient with 1-2 cc of fentanyl and versed pre-op with titration during surgery. The average total amount is 4-5 cc for most procedures. 1% lidocaine is utilized for the local anesthetic. An average of 10-20 cc is used for local anesthesia, titrated as needed during surgery.
Results: The results of decompression can be predicted by a combination of pain relief reported during, immediately after, and augmented by visualization of the targeted patho-anatomy. Such visualized pathology visualized includes annular tears, decompressed spinal nerves, and visualization of the axilla between the traversing and exiting nerve.
Conclusion: Observations provides level 5 EBM (Expert opinion) for surgical intervention. Evidence based medicine usually starts with level 5 “expert” opinions. With the ability to evoke pain in conscious surgical patients, with endoscopic images of the patho-anatomy that correlates evoked pain production with subsequent pain resolution following visualized endoscopic decompression. Along with comparison of pre-and post op images, a new and different and level of EBM may emerge and need to be considered in addition to the traditional Levels 1-5 EBM guidelines.
Introduction: The history and development of endoscopic spine surgery (PELD) in China is reviewed. Its significance and effect is predicted to have great implications for advancing spine care in China’s working and aging population. Percutaneous spine technology was introduced simultaneously from Japan and the United states by Hijikata and Kambin in the early 1980s. It was called Arthroscopic Microdiscectomy (AMD). The access portal was called “Kambin’s Triangle, with the discectomy technique through a “safe” puncture portal through an anatomical triangular zone in the foramen bordered by the facet and foraminal ligament dorsally, the exiting nerve ventrally, and the endplate of the caudal margin of the triangle.
Method: An expanded indication for the transforaminal Kambin technique was introduced to China by Anthony Yeung in 1998, and its evolution and contribution to modern minimally invasive spine care, called the Yeung Endoscopic Spine System (YESSTM) technique, is reviewed. The percutaneous technique has been adopted by surgeons as well as non-surgeons who also undergo surgical training in their rehabilitation programs who integrate the technique through their various affiliations in China for painful degenerative conditions of the spine.
Results: The efficacy of the endoscopic technique has evolved significantly since Kambin, with additional contributions by Chinese surgeons and key opinion leaders of surgical and non-surgical Chinese associations that have co-existed, but are focused on providing treatment options for the Chinese population for centuries. Western Medicine has provided great influence on Chinese medicine, but a significant percentage of the Chinese population still cling to traditional treatment, embracing both Old and New methods. With respect to modern surgical techniques, surgeons and no surgeons are cooperative, and focus on results while working together. They recognize that with endoscopic spine surgery, it is important to maintain a success rate comparable to traditional western open surgery with less surgical morbidity utilizing the endoscope. Peer reviewed papers are emerging from China, using the EBM guidelines of Western Journals.
Conclusion: A rapidly increasing number of surgeries along with improving results will continue to drive this minimally invasive surgical method to China that bridges the gap between non-surgical pain management, physical medicine, and surgical intervention that focuses on the patho-anatomy and patho-physiology of spinal conditions of pain. This will be known as “surgical pain management, a term coined by Dr Anthony Yeung. Future developments will continue to drive the adoption of endoscopic surgery as a significant advancement for Chinese medicine and surgery.
Abstract: The role of robotics is gaining prominence as the technology of the future. In traditional spine surgery, accuracy of hardware placement, selection of ideal size and length of implanted screws and hardware for segmental fixation is desired and important even for experienced surgeons. Hardware placement in tight spaces is especially critical in the cervical and thoracic spine. Robotics will enhance patient safety as well as surgical results, for the protection of patients.
By reducing surgical radiation exposure, it also protects patients as well as the surgeon and OR personnel. In endoscopic surgery, improving the accuracy of endoscopic trajectories with image guidance will also bring this aspect of MIS surgery to the surgical mainstream. Robotic techniques are evolving rapidly. Even in their current State of the Art, robotics offer significant advantages to the outpatient spinal surgeon by precise reproducible placement of hardware and endoscopes for minimally invasive approaches.
If the current Health Care system in the USA remains the law of the land, Health Care of the future will be on life support. The free market may be the last chance for the entitlement mentality to survive. New Regulations and politics will play a key role.
