17
SPINE
SURGEONS
20 Things to Know about Minimally Invasive Spine
Surgery
By Adam Schrag
W
ith the minimally invasive spine surgery market predicted
to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.57 percent
between 2016 and 2020, there's much to look forward to.
Here are 20 things to know about minimally invasive spine surgeries:
1. MIS spine surgery techniques allow surgeons to see and treat in-
juries or disorders without retracting or damaging nearby muscles,
according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
2. Patients oen feel less pain and experience fewer complications
during and aer MIS procedures, and their hospital stays are typically
shorter than patients who undergo open surgery. Kern Singh, MD,
co-founder of Chicago-based Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at
Rush compared minimally invasive and open spine procedures and
concluded that open surgery takes three hours on average compared
to the 75-minute minimally invasive procedures. In addition, Dr.
Singh found that open spine surgery is associated with between 400
and 500 mL of blood loss while patients who underwent minimally
invasive procedures reported 40 to 50 mL of blood loss.
3. Minimally invasive techniques have been successfully applied to the
cervical spine, thoracic spine and the lumbar region since the 1990s,
when MIS decompression and spinal fusion procedures were first car-
ried out successfully, according to an article published in e Journal
of Neurosurgery.
4. e market for MIS spine surgery is expected to grow at a CAGR
of 7.57 percent between 2016 and 2020, according to Market Reports
World. According to a Technavio report, minimally invasive spine
surgery is growing in popularity. e market was valued at $3 billion
in 2015 and the value is expected to hit $4.45 billion by 2020.
5. Surgeons have adopted surgical techniques from a wide variety of
medical fields to improve MIS procedures and advances in laser, en-
doscope and image-guidance systems have aided MIS progressions.
However, a majority of surgeons still perform open procedures; Med-
Star Georgetown University estimates around 10 percent to 20 percent
of spine surgeries are performed minimally invasively nationwide, but
surgeons at MedStar Georgetown perform 80 percent of their cases
with MIS techniques.
6. Robotic systems can play a key role in MIS procedures, particularly
in screw placement accuracy and reproducibility of outcomes. While
controlling a robotic system during surgery, surgeons have the benefit
of seeing a 3-D image on a console, according to Hopkins Medicine.
e highly advanced computer soware system allows them to make
extremely precise movements.
e worldwide spine surgery robotics market is valued at $26 mil-
lion and expected to reach $2.77 billion by 2022, according to Re-
searchmoz. Robotic guidance can reduce complication rates from the
12.8 percent in the freehand procedure to 4 percent, as shown by a
recent study presented at the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine
Surgery Annual Forum 2016.
7. Endoscopic spine surgery is another technique MIS spine sur-
geons use. During this type of procedure, the surgeon inserts a
thin, flexible tube with a video camera through a small incision or
natural opening into the body. The tube is equipped with surgical
tools and a camera that displays the live feed for the surgeon on a
monitor.
e American Medical Association's CPT 2017 Codebook includ-
ed the first endoscopic spinal surgery code. e code covers endo-
scopic decompression of the spinal cord, nerve root and more.
8. Minimally invasive surgeries, such as microscopic lumbar disecto-
my, outpatient lumbar fusions, outpatient cervical fusion and other
small incision operations, are ideal for athletes looking to get back to
their top playing shape. Many surgeons have performed MIS proce-
dures on professional athletes:
• Charles Rich, MD, has performed minimally invasive spine sur-
gery on golfer Tiger Woods.
• Luis Manuel Tumialan, MD, performed minimally invasive spine
surgery on former Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen.
• Christopher Yeung, MD, performed spine surgery on MLB
pitcher Brett Anderson of the Chicago Cubs.
• Joseph Maroon, MD, performed spinal fusion on former Green
Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley.
• Robert Watkins III, MD, and Robert Watkins IV, MD, per-
formed a single-level anterior cervical fusion on former Indi-
anapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Man-
ning's disc herniation.
9. According to Newport Beach, Calif.-based Newport Orthopedic
Institute, the SPORT study showed that between 85 percent and 100
percent of professional athletes returned to their pre-surgery abilities
aer a minimally invasive lumbar discectomy with a recovery period
between 2.8 months and 8.7 months.
10. e MIS spine device market is projected to grow at a CAGR of
9.1 percent between 2016 and 2021, climbing from $13.89 billion to
$21.47 billion over the forecast period, according to marketsandmar-
kets.
11. Global companies that play major roles in the MIS spine device
market are Ireland-based Medtronic; New Brunswick, N.J.-based
Johnson & Johnson; Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker Corp.; and U.K-
based Smith & Nephew.
12. In 2015, Amendia acquired Custom Spine, increasing its MIS
spine product portfolio. On Feb. 22, 2017, Wenzel Spine acquired Os-
teoMed's PrimaLOK SP Interspinous System and its PrimaLOK FF
Facet Fixation System. Both platforms help treat lumbar spinal disor-
ders and Wenzel Spine intends to integrate them into its developing
MIS pipeline.
