Stitchless Key Hole surgery successful

Hyderabad: Suresh, a 32-year-old marketing executive, residing in the city was diagnosed with L5-S1 intervertebral disc prolapse. He was in a position where he could not afford to take leave from work. Then he opted for endoscopic discectomy which is a 'Keyhole Spine surgery,' a daycare procedure and a majority of the patients are discharged within 24 hours of the surgery.

"Advantages of endoscopic spine surgery are less tissue dissection and muscle trauma, reduced blood loss, less damage to the epidural blood supply and consequent epidural fibrosis and scarring, reduced hospital stay, early functional recovery and improvement in the quality of life & better cosmesis" said Dr Vishnu Manyam, Consultant Spine Surgeon, Gleneagles Global Hospital, Lakdi-Ka-Pul. Explaining the procedure, Dr Vishnu also said, "In this surgery, we just make a minimal incision which is less than 10 mm.

The surgery is performed with a specially designed endoscope also called spine endoscope that removes the offending disc fragment which compresses the nerve in the foramen ". The location of the fragment was in such a place that it could not be reached through conventional spine surgery which could damage the tissue thereby increasing the recovery period.

The patient would then need to take rest for at least 15 days followed by restricted movements for three months. But in the endoscopic discectomy procedure, the diseased portions of the disc are removed, and healthy ligaments, muscles, vertebrae remain unaffected ensuring speedy recovery. This 'Keyhole Spine surgery' is a daycare procedure and majority of the patients are discharged within 24 hours of the surgery and can be mobilized as early as two hours after the procedure.