Awake, spine surgery conducted on 76-year-old

A new technique in spine surgery has made the life of patient better with faster recovery and with a very short stay in a hospital.

Krishan Chander (76) from Hoshiarpur was suffering with backache from the last three months with very severe left leg pain. The pain was giving him so much problem that he was finding it difficult even while standing. Being alone in India and scared of open and microscopic surgery, he consulted his US-based daughter, who decided endoscopic surgery for her elderly father.

The patient said he contacted Dr Pankaj Trivedi, Senior Endoscopic Spine Surgeon at Spine Masters unit in Vasal Hospital. Dr Trivedi after seeing his MRI told that compression in his disc at L4-L5 level was leading to pain and causing difficulty in walking. He was operated upon the very next day, because of the unbearable pain.

During surgery, which lasted only for 15 minutes, the patient remained awake. He said the pain in his leg vanished on operation table itself. After an hour, he was able to walk straight with no pain in leg. Next day, the patient was discharged with full neurological recovery. Dr Trivedi told that the new endoscopic spine surgery required only a Band-Aid dressing without any stitch.