Understanding the auxiliary tool for spinal microsurgery – surgical microscope

Although microscopes have been used in laboratory scientific research for centuries, it was not until the 1920s that Swedish otolaryngologists began using bulky surgical microscope devices for throat surgery, marking the beginning of the application of surgical microscopes in surgical procedures. Afterwards, Williams and Caspar published their articles on the application of surgical microsurgery for the treatment of lumbar disc disease, which were later widely cited.

Nowadays, the use of Operating microscopes is becoming increasingly common. In the field of replantation or transplantation surgery, doctors can use Neurosurgical surgical microscopes to improve their visual abilities. For some excision surgeries, such as central nervous system tumors, cervical and lumbar disc diseases, as well as some ophthalmic surgeries, the use of Medical surgical microscopes is rapidly becoming popular.

The magnification and illumination device of a Operating  microscope can provide many conveniences for surgery, and most importantly, it can make the surgical incision smaller. The rise of "keyhole" minimally invasive surgery has prompted surgeons to more accurately analyze the exact causes of nerve compression and more precisely determine the position of the compression object in the spinal canal. The development of keyhole surgery also urgently requires a new set of anatomical principles as a foundation.

Because the surgical field of view is magnified six times, surgeons need to operate more gently on nerve tissue, and the illumination provided by the surgical medical microscope is much better than all other light sources, which is very conducive to exposing the tissue gaps at the surgical site. Therefore, it can be said that microsurgery is a safer surgical method.

The ultimate beneficiary of the advantages of medical operating microscopes is the patients. Surgical microscopes can reduce surgical time, alleviate patient discomfort after surgery, and reduce postoperative complications. Microscopic discectomy is as effective as conventional discectomy surgery, and Operating room microscopes can also make most discectomy surgeries performed in outpatient settings, thereby reducing surgical costs.

Although surgical microscopes are more expensive than other surgical equipment, their benefits far outweigh their price disadvantage for spinal surgery. After thousands of surgeries, I feel that when performing cervical or lumbar nerve decompression, the Medical microscope not only makes the surgery faster but also safer for patient.