One of the major developments in spine surgery today is minimally invasive procedures. By definition, minimally invasive surgery utilizes small skin incisions, minimizes the damaging effects of large muscle retraction, and attempts to leave the body as naturally intact as it was prior to surgery. The goal is to achieve rapid recovery and lessen post-operative pain. An open conventional surgery has a recovery time of three- to six- months, where minimally invasive surgery is now a three- to six-week recovery. Minimally invasive surgery also decreases the risk of infection, nerve injury, bleeding and scarring.
