Back & Spine Surgery

For the hundreds of thousands of people experiencing low back pain, traditional back surgery required large incisions and extended recovery times. But now there are alternatives. 

CD Horizon Sextant

Through a minimally invasive procedure developed by Kevin Foley, M.D., many patients have a more attractive option to end back pain.

Potential candidates for this procedure are patients who have failed to respond to a good trial of non-operative care and have a:

• Degenerated or herniated disc
• Misaligned vertebrae
• Traumatic fracture

Consisting of rods, screws and specially designed surgical tools, the CD Horizon Sextant allows surgeons to fuse spinal vertebrae together by inserting screws and rods through small incisions, limiting trauma to surrounding muscles and tissues. This means less blood loss, faster recovery times, smaller scars, less pain after surgery and shorter hospital stays for patients.

During the procedure, screws are placed through two small, one-inch incisions. To place the screws, surgeons make two small, quarter of an inch incisions, as well. With the help of a fluoroscope, a "live action" x-ray machine, surgeons determine where to place the screws. Stability is restored to the spine, with increased comfort and benefit to the patient.

Dr. Foley performed the first procedure using the Sextant system at Methodist University Hospital in March 2000. Dr. Foley is a neurosurgeon with Methodist University Hospital and Semmes-Murphey Neurologic & Spine Surgery Institute. He designed and developed the Sextant system with Medtronic Sofamor Danek in Memphis, Tennessee.

FluoroNav

Combining image-guided technology with standard fluoroscopy, the FluoroNav Virtual Fluoroscopy System brings virtual reality to the operating room. This state-of-the-art navigational surgical system makes surgeries safer for patients and surgical teams.

Traditional fluoroscopy uses a C-arm or fluoroscope to take x-rays of a patient to be viewed on a video monitor. To view different angles or positions, the C-arm had to be moved and another x-ray had to be taken. Each new picture exposes the patient and the surgical team to more radiation.

By combining the traditional fluoroscope with a surgical computer, the FluoroNav system eliminates the need for multiple x-rays, limiting radiation exposure to the patient and the surgical team. As with traditional fluoroscopy, the FluoroNav system uses a C-arm to take x-rays of the patient's spine. However, the pictures are taken while the patient is in the operating room before navigation of the spine begins. The pictures are stored in a surgical computer.

Using infrared technology, the computer tracks surgical instruments while the surgeon is navigating the spine, superimposing their location onto the stored pictures displayed on the computer screen. As the instrument moves, the screen displays each new position.

The FluoroNav system eliminates the need for taking additional x-rays, leading to less radiation exposure and better operating room safety conditions. Safety also is increased by the systems ability to show multiple views of an instrument's location simultaneously. An important advance in image-guided surgery, the system meets the challenges of new minimally invasive procedures by providing critical and precise information to the surgical team.

METRx

The METRx MicroDiscectomy is a less invasive option for back surgery that allows surgeons to repair herniated discs by viewing affected nerves through a narrow tube inserted into a small incision in the patient's back. By dilating the muscle, surgeons can displace the tissue around the are that needs repair and safely remove the herniated disc fragments without cutting any muscle. Thanks to the METRx system, developed in 1995, patients are able to go home within hours of their procedure and return to work within a couple of weeks.

Through numerous medical innovations, Kevin T. Foley, M.D., neurosurgeon with Methodist University Hospital and Semmes-Murphey Neurologic & Spine Institute, has influenced the way spinal surgery is performed around the world. One of his co-inventions has had an important impact in the field of minimally invasive procedures.

As founder and board chair of the Medical Education & Research Institute, Dr. Foley continues to advance the development of innovative technologies. Through MERI, he helps provide surgeons with world-class, hands-on education programs and help them expand their skills in newer, less invasive techniques.

See the METRx system at work during a 2004 surgical webcast to repair a herniated disc.

Stealth Station

The Stealth Station® is a revolutionary mapping system used in neurological, spinal, orthopedic and ear/nose/throat surgeries. The Stealth Station® is a high-tech computer system that uses three-dimensional imaging to help guide surgeons through complicated procedures.

The system provides a virtual tour of a patient's head or spine with the help of pictures from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, a computed tomography (CT) scanner or an ultrasound machine. With the help of the pictures and infrared optics, the system creates 3-D images that pinpoint areas with one-millimeter accuracy.

This higher level of precision allows easier navigation through difficult areas, providing more safety to the patient. The "real time" images it produces are updated every eight seconds, sharing critical information about the exact location of surgical instruments. Surgeons are able to view places and positions that previously were not possible.

Benefits of Stealth Station®: 

• Increases surgical accuracy 
• Shortens procedure time 
• Allows surgeons to make smaller surgical incisions  
• Enhances visual ability of the surgeon  
• Limits number of surgical openings  
• Decreases length of patient hospitalization

To find a Methodist Healthcare affiliated back and spine surgeon in Memphis, Tennessee, please call 888.777.5959 or use our physician locator.