When conservative care, physical therapy, and medication do not ease back pain or increase motion, surgery may be recommended.

The board-certified neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons at the Cedars-Sinai Institute for Spinal Disorders are among the best in the nation. They specialize in a variety of surgical techniques including minimally invasive procedures that can be done on an outpatient basis.

The Institute's surgical facilities feature spine-specific, technically advanced operating rooms, allowing our physicians to provide state-of-the-art care with the latest equipment and the best possible outcomes. Our surgeons are experts in the following conditions and procedures.

• Artificial disc replacement
• Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF)
• Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion
• Chiari malformations
• Kyphoplasty
• Posterior lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF)
• Scoliosis treatment
• Spondylosthesis treatment
• Transforminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF)
• Vertebral tumors
• Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS)

A microdecompression is often performed for lumbar disc herniation. The purpose of this procedure is to remove a small portion of the bone (microdiscectomy) over the nerve root and/or disc material from under the nerve root. By doing so, the surgeon is able to relieve the pinched nerve and provide more room for the nerve to heal.

One of the major developments in spine surgery today is minimally invasive procedures. By definition, minimally invasive surgery utilizes small skin incisions, minimizes the damaging effects of large muscle retraction, and attempts to leave the body as naturally intact as it was prior to surgery. The goal is to achieve rapid recovery and lessen post-operative pain. An open conventional surgery has a recovery time of three- to six- months, where minimally invasive surgery is now a three- to six-week recovery. Minimally invasive surgery also decreases the risk of infection, nerve injury, bleeding and scarring. Minimally invasive spine procedures include video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and laparoscopic fusion. One of the instruments used for minimally invasive procedures is an endoscope.