My Spine - Lumbar
Image used with permission from Medtronic
Figure 19.1
This drawing demonstrates the position of the patient during the operation
and the site of the surgical incision. Some specialists will operate with their
patients lying on pillows on a regular operating table and some specialists
will have special frames and even special spinal surgery tables for their
patients to lie on during the operation. The length of the cut should be suffi-
cient to allow the specialist to safely do the procedure. The trend currently is
towards smaller, less invasive incisions. Some specialists even use an endo-
scope with only a very small incision to perform the surgery.
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