Frank Phillips, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago, comments on developments in minimally invasive spine surgery.
Question: What led to your interest in minimally invasive spine surgery?
Dr. Frank Phillips: When performing traditional open surgery early in my career, the morbidity and muscle injury that went along with the surgery struck me as contrary to the goals of the surgery — that is, relieving pain and improving function. In no other area of orthopedics were muscles treated with so little respect as when accessing the spine. I became interested in developing less invasive techniques that would preserve the musculo-ligamentous envelope around the spine, while accomplishing the technical goals of the surgery. The goal was to reduce post-operative pain, morbidity and expedite return to normal functioning.
Q: You have helped to develop a few minimally invasive spinal techniques. What has this work entailed?
FP: I have been fortunate to be at the forefront of a number of minimally invasive spinal technologies during my career. In the mid-1990s I was involved with a handful of other surgeons in the advancement of tubular retractor techniques and development of percutaneous pedicle screw systems. I was one of the first surgeons to perform and teach kyphoplasty and served on the board of directors of Kyphon until their acquisition by Medtronic. This technology not only improved patients with compression fractures pain and function, but also increased awareness of osteoporosis and its spinal consequences amongst spine surgeons. I have also enjoyed my involvement in the development of lateral surgery. I began performing a variation of this technique in early 2000s, and then worked with talented individuals like Dr. Luiz Pimenta to further refine these techniques. Watching the field of lateral interbody fusion grow since our early pioneering work has been extremely rewarding.
Q: What do you see as the biggest area for growth in the spine surgery field today?
FP: Clearly minimally invasive spine surgery is the future and will continue to replace its open counterparts. Over the next decade image guidance technologies will continue to evolve to enable minimally invasive procedures. Biologic solutions for certain spinal disorders will ultimately surpass surgical procedures. I believe the biggest opportunity in spinal disorders is in diagnostics. Diagnostics have traditionally been an unattractive area for investment in the development of new technologies; however, our inability to precisely diagnose the source of spinal pain remains one of our toughest challenges.
Learn more from Dr. Phillips at the 15th Annual Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + The Future of Spine in June 2017! Click here for more information.
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