What Influences Endoscopic Spine Surgery Recovery Time?

Blog Summary:

• Endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) is an ultra-minimally invasive approach that often allows healthy patients to return to work within days.

• Recovery is influenced by patient health and pre-surgery condition, with better baseline health and precise targeting of the problem area leading to faster healing.

• Surgeon experience, surgical precision, and quality postoperative care play a significant role in shortening recovery time.

• Following post-surgical guidelines, maintaining healthy habits, and avoiding complications such as dorsal root ganglion irritation can help optimize recovery outcomes.

Endoscopic spine surgery (ESS), an ultra-minimally-invasive surgery often used to treat conditions such as herniated discs, sciatica, and spinal stenosis, accomplishes this goal with the smallest possible disruption to muscles and surrounding tissues.

Maybe you find yourself here because you’ve heard that ESS carries less risk than spinal fusion. Maybe you’re here because it’s even been recommended to you and you’re evaluating treatment options and wondering if ESS is really all that it’s cracked up to be.

In truth, generally speaking, ESS is often far less risky, and recovery is often far less lengthy than other types of spine surgery. Still, the extent to which your endoscopic spine surgery recovery period and quality of recovery differ from others is dependent upon several factors, ranging from your baseline health to the condition from which you’re recovering and more.

In this post, we explore the main factors influencing endoscopic spine surgery recovery length and more.

3 Key Factors Influencing Endoscopic Spine Surgery Recovery Duration

1. Patient Health & Pre Surgical Condition

How healthy you are before having surgery plays a huge role in how quickly you recover after having surgery. This is true for any surgery, including but not limited to endoscopic spine surgery.

Patients in generally good health (without risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, or smoking), often experience the quickest recovery.

The severity and duration of your specific spinal condition also matters. For example, if you’ve experienced nerve compression for a number of years, or even many months, it may take longer for your irritated nerves to fully heal and your symptoms to abate, even once pressure is relieved via surgery.

That being said, a large study of 442 patients undergoing outpatient lumbar endoscopic decompression (just one type of ESS for one particular condition) found that nearly 84% achieved excellent or good outcomes, with the majority of people returning to work in just a few days.

The best candidates for minimally invasive approaches such as endoscopic spine surgery often have symptoms that can be pinpointed to a specific location, which allows a spine surgeon to access the problem via small surgical corridors. This pinpoint accuracy is what allows ESS to be much less disruptive than other types of spine surgery, and, consequently, is positively correlated with less lengthy recovery times.

2. Type of Work and Physical Demands

When it comes to returning to work, not all jobs are created equal. As the above study of 442 patients indicated:

• ESS patients with light-duty jobs (such as those involving mostly desk work and some minimal lifting) had a median return-to-work (RTW) time of 6 days, or roughly a week

• ESS patients with medium-duty jobs (requiring moderate physical activity) experienced a RTW of around 13 days, or nearly 2 weeks

• ESS patients with heavy duty jobs (requiring lifting and strenuous labor) had an average RTW of about 20 days, or almost 3 weeks

The study also showed that patients experiencing temporary but uncomfortable dorsal root ganglion (DRG) irritation had a more prolonged length of recovery from back surgery, sitting at around 19 days on average.

However, most of our endoscopic spine surgery patients are back to work within a couple of days. That’s far better than this study’s average.

3. Surgical Approach and Postoperative Care

Endoscopic spine surgery has many unique benefits when compared to traditional surgery. These include:

• Smaller incisions and less muscle damage

• Lower infection risk and less blood loss

• Minimal need for narcotic pain medications / often adequate treatment via OTC pain meds

• No hospital stay for most patients – ESS is normally an outpatient procedure that releases patients home the same day as surgery

With all of the above having been said, it does matter who performs endoscopic spine surgery. Specifically, the experience level and training of the surgeon can significantly impact the degree to which you experience postoperative complications. What’s more, the quality of the surgery performed can also have a big impact on recovery time.

Lastly, while there are many factors out of your control when it comes to influencing endoscopic spine surgery recovery, there are some that are well within your control. Below, we’ll explore some of them.

6 Steps to Support a Faster Recovery

As we covered in our blog post “Life After Endoscopic Spine Surgery: What to Expect”, there are a number of ways to potentially shorten your recovery time after ESS. These include:

1. Follow Your Surgeon’s Instructions: Try to avoid bending, twisting, and lifting heavy things in the weeks following your surgery. Follow all doctor’s orders.

2. Attend Physical Therapy if Prescribed: This will help you regain mobility, strength, and flexibility under supervision.

3. Prioritize Rest & Sleep: This will aid in your body’s natural healing.

4. Care for Your Incision: Regularly (and gently) clean your incision, taking care to stave off infection.

5. Avoid Smoking: If you are a smoker, try to avoid smoking. Nicotine decreases blood flow and delays tissue healing.

6. Set Realistic Expectations: Most of our patients are back to normal daily activities within days and back to work within a week, but be sure to set realistic expectations based on your condition and unique situation.

Have More Questions About the ESS Recovery Process?

At Desert Spine and Scoliosis Center, Dr. Baig and our team are experts in endoscopic spine surgery.

If you have any questions about surgery or the recovery process, we invite you to get in touch with us for additional details or to set up a consultation.