Avoid Traditional Spine Surgery:
Patients need to be informed about the difference between what we do and other spine surgical procedures.  DND is a minimally-invasive procedure accomplished through a natural opening into the lower end of the spinal canal.

Avoid Other Minimally Invasive Spine Techniques:
There are other minimally-invasive spine techniques that are very different from the DND procedure performed by the IPS physicians.  These other procedures are more invasive and may damage or remove healthy tissue and even worsen the degenerative disc disease present in the patient. 

These procedures rely on the MRI scan which frequently has poor diagnostic and prognostic value and cannot diagnose many problems or pain syndromes.  These other minimally-invasive procedures also cannot remove scar tissue and, therefore, usually are not indicated when a patient has previously had low back surgery.  The DND procedure is the least invasive of all minimally-invasive spine surgical procedures. 

Open Spine Surgery:
Open spine surgery can be a higher risk surgery with a poor success rate and a long, painful recovery time.  Relying on the MRI scan for diagnosis and procedure selection, open spine surgery frequently involves cutting muscle, ligaments, bone and removing significant disc tissue.  This can also result in weakening of the spine itself because of damage to the various components that provide support and stability. 

In addition, the open spine surgery, particularly fusions, very often makes any further treatment in the affected area of the spine much more difficult to accomplish.  Finally, open spine surgery very frequently results in significant scar tissue and/or other pain problems.