New Approach to Back Surgery Offers Older Adults Faster Healing, Fewer Risks

Vincent Leone, MD, director of orthopedic spine surgery at Glen Cove Hospital, is using a new implantable device for back surgery to treat lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). The new, minimally invasive approach offers patients fewer risks and a quicker recovery, and is an alternative to conventional surgery known as a laminectomy.

Dr. Leone is one of the first orthopedic surgeons on Long Island to use the technique and has performed more surgeries with the new device than any other surgeon on Long Island. "This new procedure fills a gap in the continuum of care that, until now, required many patients to make the leap from conservative therapies, such as analgesics and injections, straight to invasive surgery," said Dr. Leone.

Dr. Vincent Leone, with his patient, Mary Lou Hessler, points out the XSTOP spinal device that he implanted during surgery to alleviate her back and leg pain.

On May 18, Dr. Leone performed surgery on Mary Lou Hessler, 64, using the implantable device, known as the XSTOP, which opens space in the spinal canal. Ms. Hessler, of Beachurst, NY, had suffered pain in her back and legs from LSS for more than five years. The pain woke her up at night and she had extreme difficulty sitting at her job at a bank. Ms. Hessler said she tried acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy and steroid injections, but nothing alleviated her pain.

"Thanks to the surgery, I'm not in constant pain anymore - it's just amazing!" said Ms. Hessler. "I had an overnight stay at the hospital, recuperated for two weeks and then I was back at work."

Lumbar spinal stenosis is a degenerative condition that shrinks the spinal canal and pinches the nerves, causing lower back pain and shooting pains down the legs. The condition affects mainly middle-aged and elderly people. Until recently, patients with LSS had limited options for relieving symptoms associated with the disease.

The minimally invasive, reversible procedure takes less than one hour and does not typically require general anesthesia. "It is a low-risk alternative to current LSS treatment options and is a motion-sparing solution, meaning that the procedure takes pressure off the nerves and keeps the spine moving, which relieves patients' symptoms," said Dr. Leone.

Because extension, or standing upright, provokes symptoms, the XSTOP is designed to limit extension of the lumbar spine and keep the canal open in the lower spine that carries nerves to the legs, thereby relieving symptoms. The current standard of surgical care, laminectomy, is an invasive procedure that requires general anesthesia and involves removing parts of the bone and tissue that are narrowing the spinal canal. Often times, laminectomy is not an option for patients as many are unwilling to undergo an invasive/irreversible procedure and/or cannot tolerate general anesthesia because of their age and other health conditions.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the XSTOP device in November 2005. The implant is made of titanium alloy and is shaped like a spool with small wings, which comes in different sizes.It was developed by St. Francis Medical Technologies, Inc. of Alemeda, CA. Approximately 125,000 patients in the United States currently undergo the laminectomy procedure annually. Clinically proven to produce outcomes equal to those seen with laminectomy, X STOP is being used as a first-line surgical intervention for appropriate patients to treat symptoms of LSS. For more information, contact Dr. Vincent J. Leone at (516) 622-7920.

Note to editors:
Dr. Leone and his patient, Mary Lou Hessler, are available for interviews.

Media Contact:
Betty Olt
(516) 465-2645