New Techniques

Spine surgery is always a serious surgery. However, as technology and techniques have improved over the past decade, the invasiveness of surgical spinal procedures has been dramatically reduced.

New, minimally invasive techniques have been implemented in recent years. Among these newer techniques is intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDT), which involves inserting a heated wire into a disc to strengthen the fibers that hold the disc together. Another relatively new procedure is vertebroplasty, which involves injecting a cement-like mixture into a fractured vertebra to stabilize the spine. Both of these procedures are usually performed on an outpatient basis with local anesthesia.

The benefits of less invasive procedures include a much faster recovery, significantly smaller incision, and often, no need to be admitted to a hospital overnight or longer.

The PRESTIGE® Cervical Disc
In the past, patients with pain and spinal disorders of the neck, including degenerative disc disease, had few treatment options other than spinal fusion to alleviate chronic pain and stabilize the spine. Currently, more than 200,000 spinal fusion procedures are performed on patients in the United States each year.

However, today, in one of the nation's most innovative advancements in orthopedic and spine procedures, artificial disc replacement is offering some patients a chance to maintain or regain mobility and function of the affected area of the neck.

Physicians on the Sierra Surgery medical staff have received in-depth training on the use of the Prestige Cervical Disc, which was developed by Medtronics and is the first artificial disc approved for use by the FDA in 2007. The Prestige disc is used to replace diseased or injured discs in a single level of the spine, most often in young, otherwise healthy patients.

This new procedure often preserved motion and mobility in the patient’s neck. It has yielded very positive results in many patients.

Learn more about the Prestige Cervical Disc.