The Failures of the MILD -- and Virtues of MIS

Let me relate to you a story.

A colleague of mine saw a patient with severe back pain and sciatica. Her symptoms were classic findings of spinal stenosis. The patient claimed she visited with a pain specialist for a few times. After injections that failed, he recommended "a new procedure" to treat her spinal stenosis. The procedure was the infamous MILD (Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression). He touted its benefits as being just as effective as open surgery but without the cut! It was almost too good to be true!

The patient agreed to the procedure. Unfortunately, she experienced no relief whatsoever. She then sought out a second opinion and ended up in my colleague's clinic. 

My friend pulled up an MRI that was completed after the MILD procedure. He stared up and down at this series of images. He was dumbfounded. There was no evidence at all of decompression! The MRI appeared as if no procedure at all had been performed. In fact, comparing the MRI images before and after the MILD, he found the amount and severity of the spinal stenosis to be unchanged!

It is not surprising, unfortunately, that this patient underwent and paid for a pointless procedure. The MILD is performed blindly (the physician is not seeing the anatomy directly) and being performed by doctors who have never been trained in lumbar decompression surgery. As such, they don't really know what they are doing. They end up doing a shoddy job of nibbling away at some tissue ineffectively. 

With MIS, whether microscopic or endoscopic, seeing anatomy directly is guaranteed. I am confident when I do these procedures that I will be able to visualize all the critical structures, the areas of compression, and know at the end of the case that I have achieved the goal of relieving the stenosis. 

So don't be deceived! Make sure you find a specialist who knows MIS spine procedures so that you have the best chance of a great result. If you have had the MILD procedure and it failed, don't worry -- you are not alone. And the good news is, an MIS, outpatient procedure will probably solve your problem. We can treat your problem right away. Get a second opinion at one of our office locations: Highland, Merrillville, Hobart, or Crown Point, Indiana!

- Dr Shukairy, Minimally Invasive Spine Specialist

#MIS #spinalstenosis #endoscopic