Advances in Technology Allows Spine Surgery to Move to an Outpatient Setting with a Minimally Invasive Approach
02/12/2010
| Category:
Minimally Invasive Spine (MIS), Spine Surgeons
Advances in technology and minimally invasive approaches are creating a revolution in spine surgery with patients experiencing significantly reduced postoperative pain, faster mobilization and recovery, better outcomes and most importantly a quicker return to an active lifestyle. A variety of surgeries are now being done with very small incisions, in a shorter period of time and with minimal to no blood loss. As a result, these procedures no longer require lengthy hospital stays. Patients can often leave in the afternoon or with an overnight stay in an outpatient facility like D.I.S.C. that was uniquely designed to accommodate these specialized procedures in a routine fashion.
D.I.S.C. represents a step up in a new generation of medical care. Today, multi-level fusions, implants of screws or rods for stabilization procedures, artificial dics, discectomys and laminectomys can safely be performed in this new environment. A key factor in the ability of these delicate procedures being done, in a minimally invasive fashion, is the use of the high-powered Zeiss microscope offering our skilled surgeons an incredible 3-D magnified view of up to 30-times of the surgical field.
Moreover, at D.I.S.C. we offer the advantage of a dramatically decreased risk of infection. Currently we have performed over 3,000 procedures with no postsurgical infections or MRSA. The entire surgical center has a specially-designed environmental air conditioning system with three ultra clean operating rooms featuring true 99.71% efficient HEPA air filtration along with UVC emitters to further reduce airborne germs and bacteria.
In addition, our high nurse to patient ratio, usually running at one nurse for one patient, provides an intensive level of special treatment and care that is unsurpassed in the hospital environment. More importantly it effectively eliminates the occurrences of nursing errors and inadvertent medications or wrong identity which can result in devastating outcomes.
We have found that in the first day of the postoperative period this one-on-one care environment greatly increases the mobilization of the patient and reduces postoperative complications as well. Tight control of pain management is accomplished with in-house anesthesia, pain management staff and our highly-trained nurses all working together in a collaborative approach which further aids the faster recovery period.
D.I.S.C. has created a new generation of facility for the delivery of medical care. The health care delivery system is challenged in its current form by major problems. MRSA or Staph infections that are resistant to antibiotics are plaguing our hospitals accounting for many thousands of medical complications following surgical interventions and are a devastating health problem if acquired. In addition, nursing errors with inadvertent drug administration or mistaken care are an ever mounting problem, as hospitals are faced with an overcrowding situation, cutbacks in budgets and shortage of new personnel.
This concept of moving major spine procedures out of the hospital to this new environment with a higher level of equipment and resources and improved staffing with highly-trained personnel increases patient safety with a decreased risk of complications. Overall it provides for a better patient experience that is evidenced by our patient satisfaction surveys that approach 100% positive. With the many challenges facing the health care system, D.I.S.C. has successfully demonstrated that