Minimally invasive Spine Surgery in Munich

If back pain does not subside despite conservative treatment measures, a minimally-invasive spinal operation offers the possibility of treating back problems without open surgery. A spinal disc herniation or even spinal canal stenosis can be treated in a gentle and effective way so that you do not have to suffer pain for very long. These gentle procedures place less strain on the body and are less risky.

Our interdisciplinary group practice has been one of the top addresses for minimally-invasive spinal interventions for many years. Our patients profit from interdisciplinary diagnosis and treatment, from the comprehensive expertise of our specialists and our many years’ experience in the treatment of different ailments of the locomotive system, particularly the spine.

Throughout Europe, we are pioneers in many minimally-invasive treatments, such as spinal catheter treatment, which has been further developed by Dr Reinhard Schneiderhan, or micro-laser therapy. In addition, our team of doctors has performed over 40,000 minimally-invasive spinal operations in Europe and has the greatest experience in this comprehensive and complex field.

We cover the specialist disciplines of orthopaedics and pain therapy, neurosurgery, neurology, diagnostic radiology, general medicine, and physical and rehabilitative medicine. Our specialist doctors work using an interdisciplinary approach in one team in order to develop a concept tailored to the patient for the best possible treatment.

Here is an overview of our minimally-invasive therapies:

Heat probe treatment according to Dr Schneiderhan

The minimally-invasive, gentle yet highly effective procedure relies on the blocking of pain-conducting nerves and can take place either on an outpatient or also inpatient basis if required. Pain fibres are treated with heat so that the conductivity of the pain fibres passing in this region are broken and the pain is reduced without open surgery being necessary. Dr Schneiderhan has been instrumental in improving heat probe treatment and is one of the leading experts in the field of thermo coagulation.

 

Micro-laser treatment

Treating spinal disc herniation with the micro-laser is an effective and targeted way of alleviating pain. This minimally-invasive procedure is performed without needing to make a cut and contributes to the fact that surgical interventions are necessary less frequently these days. We have treated over 12,000 patients with the “intervertebral disc laser” in our interdisciplinary group practice alone.

 

Spinal catheter technique according to Dr Schneiderhan

The spinal catheter technique is a minimally-invasive procedure for treating back pain. Thanks to the stretchy catheter, it is possible to treat an affected nerve root with targeted precision. Dr Schneiderhan has further developed this method and carried out the highest number of procedures of this kind in Europe with his team. Using this treatment method, the majority of these patients were able to avoid open surgery.

 

Spinal cord endoscopy (epiduroscopy)

The epiduroscopy provides spatial and colour imaging of anatomical structures of the epidural area. No other procedure allows such precise imaging of the spinal canal. Furthermore, spinal cord endoscopy enables scarring and adhesions in the LS region to be eliminated, without the need for a major operation or stabilising operation to be carried out.

 

Endoscopic procedure

Minimally-invasive endoscopic surgical procedures only need an entrance to the spine through the skin that is a few millimetres large meaning that back problems can be treated particularly gently with this pipe-shaped instrument. Endoscopy is replacing classical open surgical interventions on the spine more and more, particularly for different forms of spinal disc interventions as well as spinal canal stenosis and osteoporosis.

 

Intradiscal injection procedures

For an intradiscal injection, the doctor passes a fine needle into the intervertebral disc tissue following local anaesthetic and under X-ray control. The injection of an X-ray contrast medium enables targeted and effective pain diagnosis (discography) while the injection of different medication directly into the intervertebral disc enables an immediate pain-relieving treatment in the case of isolated intervertebral disc pain.

 

SCS spinal cord stimulation

Severe chronic back pain has a very effective treatment at hand, namely spinal cord stimulation (SCS). Spinal cord stimulation creates electrical impulses that ensure that chronic pain is masked. Thanks to this minimally-invasive intervention, pain is proved to reduce by 80% and therefore the patient’s quality of life is sustainably improved.

 

Biological restoration of the intervertebral disc

If the intervertebral disc is also affected owing to spinal disc herniation or spinal disc wear, it loses volume. Thanks to the innovative autologous disc cell transplantation (ADCT), we can restore the volume and therefore the height of the intervertebral disc so that it can take up its original function again. As the procedure uses the body’s own cells there are no rejection reactions.

 

Vertebroplasty & kyphoplasty

Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are minimally-invasive interventions carried out as an inpatient procedure on the lumbar spine or the thoracic spine if a fracture of the vertebral bodies has occurred. A vertebral body repaired with osseous cement is permanently stabilised and the pain is soon alleviated. In kyphoplasty, a severely deformed vertebral body is first straightened using a balloon before it is injected with osseous cement.

 

Surgery for bottleneck syndrome (peripheral interventions)

In so-called bottleneck syndrome, important nerves are trapped. This can occur in hands, arms and legs and results in various limitations, depending on the severity. The most common manifestation is carpal tunnel syndrome on the wrist. By relieving the trapped nerve, the nerve pain usually subsides quickly immediately after the operation and paralysis can also rapidly improve.