Well I’m not a Neuro surgeon, I’m not a Spine Surgeon but yes I consider my self a mostly seasoned clinician who continues to be in the forefront of saving my patients from unwanted spine surgeries and helping them managing their back pain. And I assure you 90%of all the spinal conditions mentioned in this article can be dealt without patient going to the OT. It was this news paper article that triggered me to actually google “MISS Market Analysis”(Link will be shared soon). I just couldn’t stop myself from observing and now writing about this rising obsession with Minimally Invasive Spine Surgeries (MISS). It’s like the smartphone of spinal procedures – everyone’s excited about it, but nobody’s quite sure if it’ll actually improve their lives or just drain their wallets. Sure, the idea of making smaller incisions and sending patients home faster sounds great on paper, but let’s not forget that sometimes spine surgery is supposed to be… well, spine surgery. You know, where you actually address the underlying problem instead of sneaking in through a tiny hole and hoping for the best.
The idea that robot-assisted surgery and fancy biomaterials like 3D-printed implants are revolutionising spinal care is almost laughable. It’s as if the medical device industry has turned into an infomercial . Meanwhile, the basics of spine health seem to be getting overlooked. Complex conditions like spinal stenosis or degenerative spinal disease aren’t magically fixed with a high-tech gadget and a trendy acronym.
And don’t even get me started on the push to do these surgeries in ambulatory centers. Because, clearly, nothing says “complicated spinal procedure” like rushing it through in an outpatient clinic as if you’re getting your tires rotated. It’s a bold move, but maybe, just maybe, the reason traditional methods have worked for so long is because they actually get the job done.
In the end, MISS seems more like a “Minimal Invasion” on the spine and a “Maximal Invasion” on the patient’s wallet. But hey, at least the robot gets some practice, right?
