I was in Oman for a conference recently and during one of the discussions with a Senior Official of the Ministry of Health, he was enquiring about a particular technique in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery that was being performed in India for some specific spine problems – this is called MIS-TLIF. After talking to some of the spine surgeons I work with, I understood that MIS-TLIF is in fact performed at quite a few Centres of Excellence in India.
A 65-year-old lady consulted Dr. Amrithlal Mascarehnas, Spine Surgeon, with complaints of back-ache and persistent lower limb pain. She had great difficulty in walking even a few steps. Conservative treatment given over the last 2 months did not provide any relief. A thorough examination and an MRI scan revealed that she had a large disc herniation or more commonly called a disc prolapse compressing the roots of the nerves to the legs.
She was hospitalized and operated upon by Dr. Mascarehnas & team – she underwent a minimally invasive spine surgery (MIS) procedure called Trans Foraminal Lumbar Interbody Fixation (TLIF). The surgery was uneventful. She was up and about the day after the surgery, able to walk comfortably without pain. She was discharged from the hospital in 2 days.
MIS-TLIF offers several advantages to the patient in terms of small incisions, minimal blood loss, reduced tissue damage, lesser infection rates, faster recovery and a shorter hospital stay.
Dr. Prakash Singh & Dr. Arun Sharma, leading Spine Surgeons based in New Delhi, say: “More than 80 patients have been treated with this procedure by our team. In properly selected cases, MIS-TLIF can ensure success rates of 99% to 100%”.
MIS-TLIF is recommended in patients with lumbar disc prolapse, instability of lumbar spine, Grade I & II spondylolisthesis, early spinal infections, resection of small spinal tumours and fixation of spinal fractures. It must also however be said that not all spine cases will be suitable for MIS-TLIF. Carefully selected cases have shown very good outcomes with this procedure.
“MIS-TLIF is beneficial for patients with spine spondylosis, listhesis grade-I. The success rate depends on the selection of case. It is not good for dislocation cases. The average length of stay required is about one and half days.” says Dr. J.K.B.C. Parthiban, a leading Spine Surgeon in South India.
MIS-TLIF is one of the path-breaking advances in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgical techniques. Novel techniques like these have made spine surgery more beneficial to the patient as well as more appealing to the surgeons.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any governmental/other agency. Patient names have been changed to protect their identity. This article contains facts that have been obtained from reliable sources, but may be subject to change with time. The author will not be responsible in any way for the comments given by reader.
