Being a combination of bones, flexible ligaments and tendons, muscles, and nerves, the spine is key to keeping us upright and the axis of our movements.
Having a healthy spine is synonymous with a good quality of life, and to help patients achieve this, technological tools have been developed to improve the safety and efficacy of spinal surgeries.
Among the different technological tools to provide better care against spinal diseases, are:
Endoscopy
It provides magnified visualization, but unlike the microscope, it allows the camera to be inserted inside the patient and thus have a wider field of vision. The use of this tool will depend on the needs of each case and the surgeon’s decision.
Intraoperative fluoroscopy
The basic tool for spinal surgery that requires X-Rays. Thanks to their characteristics, they are used in almost all procedures, except for some blocks guided by ultrasound or CT scan.
Through it, the spine can be visualized in such a way that it is possible to correctly identify the place to be operated on, increasing safety in surgery.
Surgical microscope
During spinal surgery, it is necessary to work in narrow and/or deep spaces. These microscopes allow a magnification of up to 400x to visualize the surgical field, in such a way that the surgery is performed with greater precision and care in the patient’s anatomy. It is an especially useful tool in complex cases and minimally invasive surgeries.
Intraoperative neurophysiology
It monitors the neurological structures during surgery, allowing the surgeon to identify them or the neurophysiologist to report any changes during surgery, thus avoiding problems in the patient.
Neuronavigator
A state-of-the-art neurological tool that allows reading the instruments used during surgery, through a 3D map of the spine, provided by intraoperative CT. Managing to accurately recognize the location, shape, and volume of the pathology to be treated.
Intraoperative CT
Together with the neuronavigator, this tool tracks the position of the instruments virtually and in real-time. Becoming a 3D map of the patient’s spine and is especially useful when placing screws in difficult or small anatomical places, or with altered morphology, such as deformities, since it allows the surgeon to have a 2 mm precision when it comes to calculating routes.
This study can be performed in the operating room, just before starting the surgery, and, a second time, at the end of the surgery to corroborate the result before the patient leaves the operating room.
Thanks to the use of state-of-the-art tools, spinal surgery offers greater safety and effectiveness for patients.
At ABC Medical Center, we have state-of-the-art technology that allows us to solve, through minimally invasive techniques, pathologies that include deformities, tumors, fractures, degenerative diseases such as herniated intervertebral discs and spinal stenosis in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions, as well as in the craniocervical and lumbopelvic junctions.
At ABC Medical Center’s Neurology Center, we can provide you with specialized care. Contact us!
Fuente
Dr. José Alberto Israel Romero Rangel – neurosurgery specialist at ABC Medical Center.
https://www.spine-health.com/node/72592
https://www.cun.es/quienes-somos/la-clinica/tecnologia/neuronavegador
