An estimated 10 million adults suffer from chronic back or leg pain annually. Until recently, back or leg pain sufferers have undergone traditional or "open" spine surgery, requiring weeks or months of recovery. In recent years, minimally disruptive surgical approaches to spinal fusion have been developed offering a surgical solution with less tissue trauma, potentially less pain, and faster recovery time.

Mohammad Etminan M.D., an orthopedic spine surgeon with Richmond Bone and Joint, is performing one such minimally disruptive surgical technique called XLIF® (eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion). This procedure was developed by NuVasive®, Inc. The XLIF procedure is unique in that it does not require entry through sensitive back muscles, bones or ligaments. Instead, the spine is approached from the side of the body, through two one-inch incisions.

"XLIF offers a safe, less invasive alternative to traditional or open spine surgery," explains Dr. Etminan. "This approach provides greater access to the spine, offers better visualization during surgery, results in less tissue disruption and blood loss, and yields faster patient recovery times. Patients are often walking within a few days, with a typical four-to-six week recovery, rather than the six or more months of recovery following traditional back surgery. And the best part is that they are no longer suffering from back or leg pain." One such example is 27 year-old Ashley Higgs. Two months post surgery she was quoted as saying, "Before Dr. Etminan performed the surgery, I was in excruciating pain and could not stand or walk without shooting pains. I now can walk around my block twice with no pain or numbness at all."

The XLIF procedure provides relief to patients who cannot tolerate a larger, open back surgery because of the increased risks of longer anesthesia time, blood loss, hospitalization, and recovery. It is also a less disruptive 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 is made safe with the use of NeuroVision®, a technologically advanced nerve monitoring system (EMG). This system allows the surgeon to have accurate, reproducible, real-time feedback about nerve health, location, and function, reducing the incidence of nerve injury during surgery.