A retrospective study from New York City-based NYU Langone found a connection between endoscopic spine surgery and reduced need for postoperative pain medication.
The study of 102 patients found that opioid use was reduced by 21% with endoscopic surgery compared to other minimally invasive techniques, according to a Sept. 19 news release shared with Becker's. Non-opioid pain medication overall was reduced 24% in endoscopic unilateral biportal surgery was also found in the study.
Charla Fischer, MD, lead author on the study, told Becker's that the idea for the study came from her own observations as an endoscopic spine surgeon.
"I saw my endoscopic fusions [patients] were coming in for their post-op appointments at two weeks off pain meds, moving around," she said. "I was getting confused [since after] two weeks, they were acting like their 6 or 12 week post-operative appointment for the other case. I just saw this significant difference in recovery and pain medication usage and overall patient satisfaction. I'm a big proponent of it, and I thought we should do some research to quantify what my experience has been showing me."
Dr. Fischer said the study looked at microdiscectomies, and there's ongoing research into opioid and pain medication usage for endoscopic laminectomy patients.