Can Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Resolve Your Back Pain?

Back pain plagues millions of people around the world. In fact, low back pain alone is the leading cause of disability globally. Whether your back pain stems from a pulled muscle or sprained ligament, or it’s the result of disease or severe trauma, finding relief can be a frustrating journey — pain often begets more pain, and the shifting goal posts of lasting relief can be elusive. 

If this describes your back pain story, you’d do well to team up with Dr. Robere Missirian and Dr. Asif Shafiq at Vital Orthopedic & Spine Institute in Pompano Beach and Fort Myers, Florida. 

Why your medical team matters

When you suffer from chronic back pain, the potential causes are numerous and varied. In many cases, the pain stems from multiple problems and is exacerbated by inflammation that keeps the pain going in a vicious cycle. 

Diagnosing back pain takes experience, knowledge, skill, and the ability to listen carefully to the patient’s symptoms and personal story. It also takes a physician who doesn’t automatically perform surgery before all other treatment options have been explored.

Meet Dr. Robere Missirian

Dr. Missirian is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with decades of experience and a firm belief in his oath to “do no harm.” He always begins with conservative treatments that put you and your long-term health first. If and when surgery becomes necessary, he opts for an advanced minimally invasive technique that preserves healthy tissues.

Meet Dr. “Ace” Shafiq

As a doctor of osteopathy and an experienced trauma surgeon, Dr. Shafiq brings a multidisciplinary approach to Vital Orthopedic & Spine Institute that serves you well. Rather than resorting to surgery as the first course of action, Dr. Shafiq offers cutting-edge conservative modalities that often resolve back pain without the need for invasive procedures.

When surgery becomes necessary

After working through a progression of conservative pain management treatments, such as physical therapy, injections, nerve blocks, regenerative medicine, and RF ablation, some people still have persistent pain in their backs. At this point, it may be time to consider surgical intervention.

Whenever possible, we opt for a minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) over traditional open surgery for several reasons. First and foremost, MISS aligns with our philosophy to cause the least amount of damage while producing the best possible outcome. 

MISS allows us to access your spine using tiny incisions and long, narrow tubes with cameras and surgical instruments that push aside healthy tissue rather than cutting through it. The benefits of this technique are undeniable:

• Smaller scars
• Less anesthesia
• Lower risk of infection
• Less blood loss
• Less damage to soft tissues
• Less post-surgical pain
• Shorter stay in the hospital
• Quicker recovery time

We can perform MISS for a wide range of spinal conditions, including herniated discs, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, fractures, tumors, and infections. 

Does minimally invasive spinal surgery work?

If you’ve already been through a long list of treatments searching for back pain relief, the main question on your mind today is probably: Will MISS be the solution that finally works for me?

The answer is: In most cases, yes.

The success rate of MISS is upwards of 95%. When performed by an experienced surgeon, MISS can correct the structural problems in your spine by removing bone spurs, fusing vertebrae, replacing discs, injecting bone cement, or trimming excess bone. 

These procedures repair your spine and create enough space for your nerves to enter and exit without impingement so you can enjoy pain-free movement once again.

If you’ve been living with unresolved back pain for way too long, schedule a consultation with one of our trusted experts and find out if MISS might be right for you. Call our friendly Vital Orthopedics staff at your nearest location in Pompano Beach and Fort Myers, Florida, today, or request an appointment online any time.