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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – When I look back on my time in the military, I am filled with pride. As a Captain in the 136th Combat Support Hospital for the Maryland National Guard, I understand the personal sacrifices our men and women in uniform endure in the name of freedom. The long deployments. The special occasions missed with family and friends. And the years of pain and suffering resulting from the wear and tear on their bodies, especially their backs. As a proud veteran, I am profoundly grateful each time I reflect on those who serve and protect the principles our great country was founded upon.
Though my days in the Army National Guard may be over, my commitment to serve those who serve our nation is stronger than ever. That’s why I’m elated to share the remarkable results of a study Laser Spine Institute’s Clinical Research Team just completed. And what it reveals, may be the motivation our servicemen and women need to take back their lives from chronic neck or back pain to find the lasting relief they deserve.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, low back pain is a highly prevalent cause of disability. It’s also been known to be a chronic health condition that Americans spend billions of dollars each year trying to treat. And for those involved in active military service, the high level of physical demand, both while undergoing training and while deployed, can contribute to a variety of injuries requiring time off for recovery. These noncombat musculoskeletal spine injuries also represent a significant financial burden on our military health care system.
These are just some of the reasons our team of researchers conducted this significant study. Our objective, detailed in an abstract called “Efficacy of an Outpatient Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery on Active Duty Military Return to Duty Time,” was to determine Laser Spine Institute’s surgical outcomes within the military community and their return-to-duty time frame. The crux of our study was to:
“Retrospectively examine prospective surgical outcomes, return to duty and self-reported pain outcomes preoperatively and within 12 months postoperatively among active duty or reserve military patients who underwent an outpatient minimally invasive surgery via laminotomy foraminotomy decompression (MIS-LFD) for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).”
Our methodology focused on 82 active and reserve military patients who underwent one of Laser Spine Institute’s most popular minimally invasive spine procedures — a laminotomy foraminotomy decompression, or (MIS-LFD). We studied the group over a one-year period from December 2013 to January 2015 and included clinical parameters like surgical blood loss and duration of surgical procedure. We also measured our patient-reported outcomes, both preoperatively and postoperatively from three to 12 months via a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).
Our findings confirmed the advantages of Laser Spine Institute’s minimally invasive spine procedures, namely, less downtime. In fact, 100 percent of patients who underwent this type of procedure were discharged less than six hours after their surgeries. Most importantly, other than the retired patients, 100 percent of the patients we examined were able to return to duty within three months.
If the painful symptoms of chronic neck or back pain have prevented you from returning to duty or living life to its fullest, visit LaserSpineInstitute.com to learn if your condition can be treated with our minimally invasive spine procedures.
Reginald Davis, M.D., FACS is the Director of Clinical Research and a neurosurgeon at Laser Spine Institute. His thoughtful, methodical approach serves as the formidable foundation to help him identify, evaluate and implement new technologies in ambulatory spine surgery.
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