Endoscopic discectomy/fusion
Writing on behalf of my husband. In his words:
41/M looking for advice from those with endoscopic spine surgery experience.
I am considering booking an appointment with Dr Jian Shen of the Endoscopic Spine Institute of NY to have my 3rd microdiscectomy. The first 2 were done with open surgery. The second surgery was done a week after the first. The first failed before I woke up from anesthesia. I had a year of great success until reherniation.
I have very little disc height left at L5S1 but Dr Shen said he would be willing to do one more MD (endoscopically this time, with some stem cell therapy to try to treat the annular tear) and then perform an endoscopic fusion if it failed down the line (he gave this a 25% chance considering my history)
What I am specifically interested in are testimonials from those who have had either an endoscopic MD or an endoscopic fusion. Preferably at a lumbar level.
I know endoscopic fusion is relatively new, but every other surgeon wants to do an ALIF + MD. When you consider what's actually done during that procedure, it makes the thought of endoscopic sound like a walk in the park. It all feels too good to be true, so it would be wonderful to speak with someone who has experience.
TLDR: Looking for testimonials from those who have had endoscopic lumbar fusion or MD with Dr Jian Shen.