Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

I recent decades, an increasing number of spinal surgical approaches and techniques have been developed that limit approach-related morbidity to the paraspinal musculature (44,60). Minimally invasive spine (MIS) surgery encompasses a variety of techniques designed to improve perioperative measures (e.g. blood loss, postoperative pain narcotic usage, recovery time) and longterm functional outcomes. Large, randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the comparative outcomes of MIS surgery vs. traditional or open spinal surgeries are sparse. Many retrospective studies, case series, smaller prospective studies, and some large non-randomized series suggest that for certain indications, MIS surgery is equally safe and efficacious compared to open approaches, and furthermore, may have superior perioperative measures such as blood loss, length of stay, and postoperative pain (21,22,38,41,42, 47,55,58,80,81).