Hyderabad, 23rd August 2019: Suresh, a 32-year-old Marketing Executive, residing in Hyderabad was complaining of severe back pain radiating to the lower limb. It was a throbbing pain that lasted for two weeks; it became unbearable, hampered daily activities, movements became difficult, attending to work was a tough call for him as it involved a lot of travelling on bike.
When things turned inconvenient and painful, he visited Gleneagles Global Hospital, Lakdi-ka-pul where he was diagnosed with L5-S1 intervertebral disc prolapse. Suresh also was in a position where he could not afford to take many leaves from work, so, after the pre-op evaluation doctor advised him to opt for endoscopic discectomy.
Dr Vishnu Manyam, Consultant Spine Surgeon, Gleneagles Global Hospital, Lakdi-ka-pul, said, “We see a number of patients complaining of back pain these days. In most of the cases, we try to manage the pain medically but some cases need surgical intervention. It is seen that pain can begin abruptly as a result of an accident or by lifting something heavy, or it can develop over time due to age-related changes of the spine. Sedentary lifestyles also can set the stage for low back pain.”
“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”, added Dr Vishnu Manyam.
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 damaged 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 the patients are discharged within 24 hours of the surgery and can be mobilized as early as 2 hours after the procedure.
Therefore the best part here was that Suresh was conscious throughout the procedure as it was done under local and could go back home pain-free on the very same day.
Authored by Mohammed Hussain
mohammedhussain.reporter@gmail.com