HUMC offers New Approach to Spine Surgery

An estimated 10 million adults suffer from chronic back and leg pain annually, a condition that can limit their activities. Until recently, adults with back or leg pain have undergone traditional or “open” spine surgery, requiring weeks or months of recovery. Joanne Campbell of Oakland, a vibrant woman with a pilot’s license, stopped flying airplanes because of debilitating back pain. “I felt severely handicapped.

I could no longer climb all over the plane like a spider,” said Ms. Campbell. “Actually, performing simple every day routine items was a problem. I couldn’t even wipe off my kitchen table.” Ms. Campbell tried many treatments, including epidural injections for one year. She turned to Roy Vingan, M.D., of Saddle River, a neurosurgeon at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), and discovered the Department of Neurosurgery offered two procedures that would change her life.

• XLIF®, extreme lateral interbody fusion – a new minimally disruptive procedure to provide relief to those suffering from back and/or leg pain. XLIF is a minimally invasive procedure that provides relief to patients who cannot tolerate a traditional open procedure because of the increased risks of longer anesthesia time, blood loss, hospitalization and recovery. It is also a less invasive alternative for patients who have lived with back or leg pain through years of various failed treatments including steroid injections, physical therapy, and pain medication. The XLIF procedure can be successfully completed in as little as one hour, reducing the amount of anesthesia time. It doesn’t require entry through sensitive back muscles, bones, or ligaments.

• AxiaLIF,® Axial Lumbar Interbody Fusion, System – a new lumbar fusion procedure to chronic low back pain sufferers. This minimally invasive approach, called AxiaLIF®, allows patients to be discharged from the hospital the day after surgery, and on average return to work in 15 days. This is a dramatic reduction in hospital lengths of stay, which can otherwise run three to four nights, followed by a one- to two-month recovery period before returning to work. AxiaLIF can be performed on an outpatient basis, with patients able to safely and comfortably return home the same day as their fusion surgery.

“Surgery isn’t the first option. Physical therapies, medications, and epidural injections are the initial treatments suggested. When those alternatives don’t provide the desired results spinal fusion can be considered,” explained Dr. Vingan. “This surgical procedure offers a safe and effective, less invasive alternative to traditional or open spine surgery.”

“People shouldn’t box themselves in by dismissing new procedures. I did my research and met with Dr. Vingan. He spent more than an hour going over my questions and wish list,” said Ms. Campbell. “My last solo flight was in October of 2006. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in pain with limited abilities. I wanted an improved quality of life. Too many people spend too much time in pain management when there are alternatives. The surgery was right for me.”

There are blue skies for Ms. Campbell and she’s hoping to get into the air again sometime soon. “Joanne did really well. Patients undergoing these procedures are often walking the same day. The approach being less invasive reduces operative related recovery time and patients are able to begin physical therapy a lot sooner than they would after traditional back surgery,” said Dr. Vingan. “This approach provides greater access to the spine, better visualization during surgery, less tissue disruption and blood loss, and, of course, faster patient recovery. The best part is that patients are no longer suffering from back and leg pain.”

HealthGrades® named HUMC one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for the second consecutive year. This designation recognizes hospitals that have demonstrated superior clinical quality over a seven-year time period, based upon an analysis of more than 75 million Medicare patient records from 1999-2005. These hospitals have achieved better survival rates and lower complication rates across dozens of medical procedures and diagnoses, from cardiac care to orthopedic surgery, consistently ranking among the top five percent in the nation for overall clinical outcomes. HUMC is the only healthcare facility in New Jersey, New York, and New England to be named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals. Only one percent of the nation’s hospitals can make this claim.

Paramus Post