Spine

Minimally invasive surgery “markedly reduces” postoperative infection risk

26th January 2017

Minimally invasive surgery is generally considered to reduce blood loss and preserve surrounding tissue, among other benefits. There is a dearth in the literature, however, on the association between minimally invasive techniques and surgical site infections.

Research published in the Asian Spine Journal has found very low rates of postoperative infection following minimally invasive spinal surgery in comparison to open surgery.

“One of the worst complications of any orthopaedic or spinal operation is surgical site infection,which can have devastating consequences,” lead author Arvind Kulkarni told Spinal News International. “Hypothetically, it appears that the incidence of surgical site infection should be minimal in minimally invasive surgery compared to open surgery—the reasons being lesser soft tissue dissection, lesser destruction of tissues, lesser exposure of surface area to pathogens etc.”

Records from 1,043 patients (52% male, 48% female; 52.2 years average age) undergoing tubular discectomies, decompressions and transforaminal interbody fusions at the Bombay Hospital and Medical Research Centre in Mumbai, India, from January 2007 to January 2015 were used to find the frequency of surgical site infection over the 12 months following each procedure.

 

READ THE REST HERE

Related Articles

Back to top button