“Minimally Invasive Microdiscectomy”… Dr Cyr’s favorite minimally invasive surgery (wait until the end of the video to see how almost non-existent the scar turned out).
Although Dr Cyr believes open fusions lead to higher success rates, he does perform microscopic discectomies. In this procedure, small tubes are used to dilate the tissue through a 16 mm incision. A working portal is then connected to a frame on the bed, holding it rigidly in place. Using a microscope, Dr Cyr then removes the pressure from compressed nerves. This is effective for stenosis (crowding of nerves from arthritis changes) and disc herniations. It allows a thorough decompression to be performed without compromise. This is a two-level decompression using the same 16 mm opening (L4-5 & L5-S1)! Note how small the scar is once it’s healed. Patients go home the same day and usually return to work within days to a week.
