Innovative Spinal Surgery to be Featured in Internet Broadcast from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 30, 2003 A new minimally invasive approach to spinal surgery will be broadcast live on the internet at 5 pm EDT EDT abbr. Eastern Daylight Time EDT Eastern Daylight Time EDT n abbr (US) (= Eastern Daylight Time) → hora de verano de Nueva York EDT on Tuesday, October 7 from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. . The surgery, a posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF PLIF Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion PLIF Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence PLIF Parking Lot Is Full (online comic) PLIF Picosecond Laser Induced Fluorescence ), will employ a new tubular retraction method that requires only a small skin incision and "splits" the muscle covering the spine to create a small portal through which surgeons can repair the spinal damage. A series of dilators is used to open the muscle tissue above the space between vertebrae Vertebrae Bones in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions of the body that make up the vertebral column. Vertebrae have a central foramen (hole), and their superposition makes up the vertebral canal that encloses the spinal cord. to create a portal of only one inch in diameter. With the space between the vertebrae propped open to the normal width, extraneous bone adjacent to the disc is removed and disc material extracted. With prepared bone wedges in place, the space is packed with morselized bone removed earlier. The objective of the surgery is to relieve pressure on the nerve that passes through the space between the vertebrae from the spinal cord. The pressure is created when the disc that normally fills the space herniates or ruptures and presses on the nerve root, often resulting in severe pain in the back, buttocks buttocks /but·tocks/ (but´oks) the two fleshy prominences formed by the gluteal muscles on the lower part of the back. or leg. The minimally invasive technique allows patients to leave the hospital sooner, with less post-operative discomfort and quicker recovery and rehabilitation. Charles L. Branch Jr., M.D., Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery at Wake Forest, who helped to adapt the minimally invasive technique - known as METRx - for PLIF, will perform the surgery. "The METRx minimally invasive technology is useful for most herniated disc surgery, in both the cervical and lumbar areas," Branch said. "And we are developing its use in the treatment of tumors, fractures and other spine pathologies." Dr. Branch will use an innovative device called a Sextant sextant, instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun or another celestial body; such measurements can then be used to determine the observer's geographical position or for other navigational, surveying, or astronomical applications. (because it looks like a navigational sextant), that requires only one additional skin puncture to set a titanium rod that anchors the two vertebrae. Both the METRx and Sextant systems are products of Medtronic Sofamor Danek, with whom Branch has collaborated extensively over the past several years. The company will be a sponsor of the October webcast. CME CME See: Chicago Mercantile Exchange CME See Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). credit available. To Access Broadcast: www.or-live.com/wfubmc/1142 |
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