Spinal surgery — and all types of surgery for that matter — have advanced by leaps and bounds in the last several decades, thanks to minimally invasive techniques, which are surgical methods that cause markedly less trauma to the body.
Dr. Benjamin Cohen employs minimally invasive surgery to correct many spinal conditions. Treatments range from spinal fusion and disc degeneration treatment to revision spine surgery to fix problems and pain caused by previous back surgery.
Because Dr. Cohen is always interested in any patient-centered improvements to surgical procedures, he readily embraced minimally invasive techniques with much success. This enthusiasm for innovation inspires Dr. Cohen to serve on the Surgical Neurology International journal’s editorial board and the Long Island Board of the American Heart Association.
The main difference between traditional open surgery and minimally invasive procedures is, to put it simply, the number and size of the surgical incisions. In open surgery, the surgeon makes a single long incision. However, laparoscopy, one of the early minimally invasive techniques, requires only one or more tiny incisions.
During laparoscopic surgery, Dr. Cohen inserts a thin tube into a small incision and performs the procedure using specially designed surgical instruments and a tiny camera.
Another minimally invasive approach is robotic surgery, enabling Dr. Cohen to work more precisely guided by a magnified, three-dimensional image of your surgical site.
It makes sense that the risk for postsurgical infection is lower with minimally invasive surgery than with traditional surgery since there’s less tissue disruption from cutting and less exposure to pathogens (germs that cause infections).
With less upset and trauma, your body doesn’t have to be in “ready-to-fight” mode like it does when dealing with a large surgical incision.
In addition to fewer instances of infection at the surgical site, minimally invasive surgery has other impactful benefits:
Fortunately, minimally invasive techniques have many medical applications, from arthroscopic surgery of the joints to endoscopic procedures.
To find out if minimally invasive surgery is right for you, please call our office at 516-246-5008 to schedule an in-person or a telehealth visit today, or reach out to us through our website.
