Recent advances and future trends in microendoscopic spine surgery

Abstract

Micro Endoscopic Spine Surgery (MISS) aims to achieve the goals of conventional techniques with minimum collateral damage. Though initial reports date back to the early 20 th century, drive to implement these in routine practice have been recent with technological advances. Presently, the indications and its applications are ever expanding such that they can be used to tackle most pathologies right from cervical to lumbar spine. The advantages of MIS techniques like faster recover and less post-operative pain have been documented in numerous studies but so are also its drawbacks related to the learning curve and radiation exposures. To tackle these, we see future trends like Navigation and Robotics, along with ever decreasing incision size supplementing Endoscopic procedures. This manuscript aims to give a brief outlook of recent advances and future trends in MISS.