Spinal endoscopic surgery Changing trends

Spinal surgery is undergoing a continuous change, brought on firstly due to patients demand for better outcomes, precise surgery and minimal complications, also secondly due to advancement of technology and equipment, thus providing for better magnification and safer instruments, which allow us to do complex and challenging spinal surgeries with better outcomes.

Spinal surgery has changed from-where it was done for advanced neurological problems, for which surgery was the only solution left and outcome was variable- to recent times, where it is considered a lifestyle altering surgery. Many of the patients who come to consult for their spinal problems and spinal surgery, are the ones whose daily activities are affected and who are unable to either go to work, or perform their daily chores. People with such complaints want a better quality of life rather then what medications or physiotherapy treatment can provide.

Endoscopic spine surgery has really taken off in the last 3-5 years, with many centres around the world offering this surgery and thus being equipped with adequate equipments to perform simple to complex endoscopic spinal surgery.

In India, with the increase in spinal surgeons and corporate hospitals, there has been an increase in endoscopic spine surgery in various tier 1 and tier 2 cities also. Apart from the availability of spinal surgeons and hospitals with adequate infrastructure, there is also the demand from the patients.

With about 40 percent of the individuals with spinal problems under the age 40, who are actively working, loss of work days due to spinal problems means is not acceptable, especially since many individuals are in private sectors. The latest national health survey data lists 27 percent of workplace loss of days due to spinal problems.

Thus they opt for a better and assured remedy for their spinal problems compared to being treated conservatively which can give variable results. The other reason being many have company or private insurances, and since these procedures are covered in insurance in majority of the corporate hospitals, they prefer to opt for it.

Endoscopic spine surgery has many benefits compared to open traditional spine surgery, in many cases anesthesia is not required, thus even older patients with spinal problems, who are unfit for any major surgical procedures, can be considered for this procedure. The hospital stay is very less, and post operative recovery is also quicker, thus in the short term, it helps everyone to get back to their normal lifestyles quickly.

The endoscopic spinal sets are available from various international leaders, like Wolff, Storz, NuVasive, Stryker, Depuy among others and with the minimally invasive spine surgery market expected to increase tremendously from 2019-2029, there is an added focus on Indian manufacturers and suppliers.

Many of the Indian companies like Jayon, Gesco are also collaborating and producing indigenuously built endoscopic sets, with similar features like in international sets.

The benefits of having Indian companies manufacture these sets are three fold; firstly, the servicing of these sets can be done very easily and quickly, which is a requisite when such fine and delicate instruments are used regularly, secondly and most importantly, the cost is substantially reduced thus making it easy for the smaller hospitals and newer spinal surgeons to also start performing endoscopic spine surgeries, and lastly having a local manufacturer, helps in making changes in the instruments as per any surgeons requirement.

Thus, as time progresses, more and more local players will be entering the endoscopic spine surgery market. This will make the equipment more cost effective, leading to more general acceptability of these procedures routinely.
This in turn will benefit the patients immensely as it will lead to latest spinal procedures and techniques being used to treat spinal problems, leading to quicker and safer recovery.