Spine & Pain

Spine Surgery

Chronic pain in the neck or low back can make it hard to complete everyday activities. Sometimes, short-term remedies don’t help, and pain medications provide unwanted side effects. For the patients who have tried every non-surgical option and are ready for some relief, Avala physicians offer minimally invasive techniques using state of the art imaging and robotics to get you back to your life as quickly as possible. Some of these procedures only call for a band-aid over your incision and will get you back to your house the same day after surgery.

What is Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery?

Minimally Invasive spine surgery is a new way to treat your neck and low back pain, without huge incisions and cutting through muscle tissue to access the spine. Instead, our physicians use the smallest incisions possible, sometimes less than half an inch, and maneuver through the muscles in your body, pushing them out of the way, rather than cutting them. These practices mean less trauma to the body, and therefore less pain, and a shorter recovery period. Minimally Invasive spine surgery also means less blood loss and reduces the risk of infection. Most patients are up and walking the same day after surgery.

Robotics-assisted Spine Surgery

Avala is the only facility in the region and one of only 40 hospitals in the nation offering robotics-assisted procedures for the spine. The Globus Exclesius GPS robot serves as a tool for our physicians to plan a specific procedure that is based on your personal anatomy. During surgery, the robot will also help our minimally invasive surgeons visualize your spine and make accurate and precise placement of hardware in your spine.

These technological advancements allow many Avala patients to undergo spine surgery, and then return to life without neck or back pain.

• Common Spinal Procedures
• Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF)
• Cervical Disc Replacement
• Micro Discectomy / Laminectomy
• Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (PLIF / TLIF)
• Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF)
• Direct Lumbar Interbody Fusions (DLIF / XLIF)

Pain Procedures

At Avala Hospital, our pain management service offers minimally invasive treatments to help reduce pain, improve function and increase quality of life. Most pain management procedures are provided on an outpatient basis, meaning patients typically return home the same day as their procedure.

• Common Pain Management Procedures:
• Epidural Steroid Injection
• Cervical or Lumbar Facet Injection
• Rhizotomy
• Discogram

Our Interventional Pain Specialists know how to accurately diagnose and effectively treat many types of chronic pain previously thought to be untreatable.