BACK SURGERY

SPINE SURGERY AND LASERS: ADVANCED TECHNIQUE OR EXPENSIVE GIMMICK?
Local Neurosurgeon Stresses Importance of Making Sure Your Surgeon Properly Selects Procedure Based on Results and Minimal Risk

St. Petersburg, FL With back pain affecting more than 65 million Americans every year, it is no wonder it is the nations 9th most expensive medical condition with annual costs soaring for treatment nearing $32 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Much of this expenditure comes from medical advances and technology treatments such as laser surgery, but are they truly advanced techniques or just expensive gimmicks?

Many patients come to my office asking me if I can use a laser to help their particular cause of back or leg pain, says local St. Petersburg Neurosurgeon, David McKalip, M.D. The answers are both yes and no. Weve found the medical expenses from laser spine surgery can sometime be 10 times higher than most insurance companies will pay. Yes, lasers can be used during surgery, but they are usually not needed because most of the relief that occurs during surgery for leg pain does not come from using a laser, but comes from the standard techniques neurosurgeons use all the time.

In essence, back and leg pain sufferers often believe that laser surgery is the superior, yet, more expensive answer to relieve their pain when, in fact, relief can come at a fraction of the cost with decompression of the nerve or with no surgery at all.

There is also little evidence that the laser helps by itself without doing the standard decompression at the same time because the particular maneuvers used by surgeons using laser has nothing to do with taking the pressure off the nerve.




Last, a laser technique will also not usually make the scar smaller, since the incision needed to take out a slipped or herniated disk is the exact same size whether you turn on a laser during the procedure or not. Modern neurosurgical techniques have been using incisions that are about 1-2 inches for years. If several small laser incisions are required to do several levels of the spine, when added together, they would equal one longer incision on the spine.

So, as in all things, buyer beware. adds Dr. McKalip. The most important thing in achieving success in spine surgery is making sure that your surgeon properly selects you to undergo the procedure based on the likelihood of helping your pain with minimal risk.

About Dr. McKalip: David McKalip, M.D. is a Board-Certified Neurological Surgeon of the brain and spine. He is president of the Florida Neurosurgical Society and President-Elect of the Pinellas County Medical Association. He is a member of the Quality Improvement Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. His practice is located at 1201 5th Avenue North, Suite 210 in St. Petersburg, FL. For more information about Dr. McKalip, contact him at (727) 822-3500 or visit www.mckalip.yourmd.com.

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Science & Technology

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• BACK
• SURGERY