By Ashley Hall
 
August 20, 2010
 
MEDFORD, Ore. - Traditional back surgery can leave a patient with months of recuperation time and no guarantee of a pain-free life.
 
For many it seems like the only option, until now.
 
A procedure known as MILD, Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression, is gaining popularity across the country. The only clinic in state trained to perform the procedure is the 'Pain Specialists of Southern Oregon Clinic' in Medford.
 
"For years, I have had low back pain that I've just ignored. A couple of years ago it escalated to where I asked for a referral to a pain clinic. And then I had epidural injection for two years, and they just weren't effective," Back Pain Patient Rosalee Duncan said.
 
Rosalee's doctor, Chronic Pain Management Physician Dr. Joe Savino, recommended she be his first patient to try out the MILD procedure in June.
 
"MILD was really developed as a tool for patients who suffer from low back and leg pain due to lumbar spinal stinos," Savino said... "Many of those patients are not candidates for surgery for whatever reason... One of the things that happens with traditional back surgery is that the integrity of the spine is compromised. They have to take out some bone."
 
The MILD procedure takes place using a portal, only about the diameter of a pencil. The doctor removes small portions of the spinal bone and tissue reducing the pressure on the nerves.
 
"It required very little anesthesia, (it's a) 1 to 2 hour outpatient procedure, no significant recovery time associated with it, and risks are very low," Savino said.
 
"I only missed two days of work. Then I went back full time. And probably two weeks out I started doing things like sleeping uninterrupted for 7-8 hours. That was the first thing I noticed," Duncan said.
 
The MILD procedure is not right for all types of back problems. However, since being approved by the FDA less than a year ago, there's been wide-spread success.
 
"There have been no complications, despite having about 1000 surgeries across the country. So it's looking pretty good. What we don't know yet are the long term outcomes. Are they going to go on and need more traditional back surgeries?" Savino said.
 
For Rosalee, just 2 1/2 months after the procedure, it's been worth it so far.
 
"It transformed my life, gave me my life back," Duncan said.
 
This procedure is covered by Medicare and most insurance. To find out if your a candidate, contact the Pain Specialists of Southern Oregon Clinic.