Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD, is the first surgeon in Minnesota and among the first in the country to perform fully percutaneous, single-position, navigated anterior/posterior spinal fusion.
Dr. Samadani completed four percutaneous, navigated spinal fusions with the oblique lateral lumbar interbody fusion technique, which uses a 15mm incision that results in minimal blood loss and preserves muscles and the adjacent tissue, according to an April 13 news release. It is designed to heighten the disc and limit disc movement and allow for faster recoveries after spinal fusion.
"The total blood loss for my first four cases averaged less than 25 cc per patient," said Dr. Samadani, a neurosurgeon with Minneapolis VA Health Care System. "The Inspired Spine procedure reduces surgical time, muscle and soft tissue disruption, and blood loss to enable faster healing and mobilization after spine fusion."
The OLLIF procedure was designed by surgeons at Burnsville, Minn.-based Inspired Spine, where Hamid Abbasi, MD, PhD, is chief medical officer.
Inspired Spine has published nine peer-reviewed studies that show the reduction in cost of surgery, hospital stay reduction in Minnesota from 4.2 days to 1.6 days and a 20-times lower likelihood of infection, according to the release. No deep infections have occurred during the first 1,500 cases.