BHUBANESWAR: Patients having prolonged back pain and those who are suffering from sciatica may now lead normal life due to improvements in methods of treatment.
While Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has brought a revolution in diagnosing the causes of back pain, endospine surgery done precisely with a high rate of success has reduced the complications drastically.
Talking to mediapersons, director of orthopaedics, endospine and joint replacement surgery of AMRI Hospitals Dr PC Dey on Wednesday said endospine surgery is a new technique and the best procedure available in the world to treat chronic back pain.
Invented by Dr Jean Destandau of France, the technique is like the laparoscopic surgery of abdomen or arthroscopic surgery of knee and shoulder done through a small hole and without any blood loss. It does not need a stitch and patient is discharged on next day of surgery.
"Endospine is a endoscopic spine surgery mostly used in treatment of slipped disc also called prolapsed intervertebral disc and lumbar canal stenosis. It has proved to be better than commonly practised surgery techniques,’’ Dr Dey said.
The instrument used for the surgery is a small thin tube with four mini holes. One of it has a 4-mm diameter to negotiate a 4-mm telescope which is connected to monitor and a camera. This helps to operate with high precision, he said. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), at least 20 persons per 1,000 people complain of lower back pain and 12 persons per 1,000 suffer from sciatica every year. It is estimated that 77 per cent of the population complain of back pain and 35 per cent with sciatica at least once during their lifetime.
"People suffer from back pain due to slipping of intervertebral disc which is most commonly seen in young generation. While lifting heavy weight in forward bending posture and obesity are some of the reasons, spinal canal stenosis is another cause in which the diameter of the spinal canal is decreased due to ageing,’’ Dr Dey added.