Endoscopic Spine Surgery: The Next Golden Standard Technique in Spinal Surgeries

Abstract

Minimally invasive surgeries continue to advance at an immensely fast pace, moving from open discectomy surgeries to microscopic ones using tubular systems, to do fusions, to correct deformities, until we reached a place where we are tackling most spinal pathologies in a minimally invasive fashion, For many spine surgeons, the field of spine endoscopy, whether uniportal or biportal, is still unexplored, to some extent due to their mastery in open and microscopic techniques, and to another extent the learning curve that it takes to master endoscopic spine, as well as a lack in well-structured clearcut data regarding its indications and limitations, and this chapter will hopefully shed the proper lighting on the field of spinal endoscopy, making surgeons understand its utility in treating different pathologies, discussing the research and data comparing spinal endoscopy with more traditional techniques, as well as understanding endoscopic spine surgery’s learning curve, and how to overcome the timeline in mastering its basic techniques.