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Outpatient Surgeries on the Rise at Rockford Spine Center
Posted on: October/05/2011

Rockford, IL (October 5, 2011) - Many patients of the Rockford Spine Center are returning to work and everyday life faster thanks to an increase in outpatient spine surgeries.  The surgeons at Rockford Spine Center are among a select group of surgeons in the country now performing minimally-invasive spine surgeries on an outpatient basis.

“People have avoided neck and back surgery at all costs because the traditional and popular view is that it’s a painful and risky surgery with a long recovery time,” notes Dr. Michael Roh.  “While there are some complex cases, spine surgery has evolved over the years.  We are learning and discovering new surgical techniques, and technology is allowing us to perform more minimally-invasive procedures.”

In 2011, Dr. Roh performed 35% of his surgeries as either outpatient or 23-hour hospital stay. Minimally-invasive procedures typically require less recovery time, smaller incisions, less pain, and therefore are less costly.

“We’re all well aware of rising health care costs.  Minimizing hospitalizations will help to contain these costs.  Furthermore, decreasing a patient’s time off from work helps to minimize the loss in productivity and strain on family or support systems.  It’s a win for everyone involved,” notes Dr. Roh.

Dr. Roh performs several types of surgeries on an outpatient basis, including lumbar microdiscetomies, which are typically performed to treat herniated discs.  He also does many cervical spine surgeries on an outpatient basis.

Since 2004, Dr. Roh has taught and chaired courses to teach other surgeons how to perform many minimally-invasive techniques, and he is considered a regional expert on these types of surgery.  Over the years, he has increased the number of outpatient surgeries performed by utilizing the minimally-invasive techniques.

“The ability to do outpatient spine surgery depends largely on techniques that are minimally-disruptive to the soft tissues of the neck and back, and can be done quickly and efficiently in about 30 to 45 minutes,” says Dr. Roh.  “If a surgery takes more than a couple of hours, then it puts more surgical and anesthetic stress on the patient, and requires hospitalization.  However, many of my patients go home on the same day, and are fully recovered from the surgery within 7 days.”

For more information about Rockford Spine Center, visit www.rockfordspine.com.  You can also find Rockford Spine Center on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RockfordSpine.

About Rockford Spine Center

Rockford Spine Center is the only facility in Northwestern Illinois dedicated exclusively to spinal care.  The facility has the combined expertise of three fellowship-trained spine surgeons, a Mayo Clinic-trained physiatrist and a general orthopedic surgeon.

Rockford Spine Center’s team of experts uses a multidisciplinary approach to treat the most complex spinal cases. The team has an advanced understanding of the spine and specializes in both surgical and non-surgical spinal disorders.  Rockford Spine Center’s goal is to get patients back to their active lifestyle as quickly as possible.  For more information about Rockford Spine Center, visit the company’s website at www.rockfordspine.com.


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