Local Spine Surgeon Begins Use of Revolutionary Less Invasive Fusion Technique to Treat Lower Back Pain

Dr. Stacy Dinkins, a practicing orthopedic spine surgeon at Horizon Medical Center is now offering a new lumbar fusion procedure to chronic low back and leg pain sufferers. This minimally invasive approach, called AxiaLIF®, allows patients to be discharged from the hospital the day after surgery, and on average return to work in 15 days. This is a dramatic reduction in hospital length of stay, which can otherwise run three to four nights, followed by a one- to two-month recovery period before returning to work.

“The AxiaLIF technology is changing the way the world thinks of lumbar fusion surgery,” said Dinkins. “With traditional back surgery, you have to dissect through normal healthy anatomy and then treat the diseased tissue. The AxiaLIF procedure now allows you to get to the injured tissue without further injury to healthy tissue, ligaments, muscles and other spinal support structures.  For the appropriately selected patients who are candidates for AxiaLIF, large incisions and months of pain associated with traditional spine fusion operations are a thing of the past. It truly was designed with the patient in mind. It’s revolutionizing the way we do surgery.”

The AxiaLIF system (marketed by TranS1, Inc.) employs a novel approach to accessing the lowest portion of the lumbar spine through a percutaneous opening via the sacral bone. The technique is performed through a 2 cm skin incision, through which specially designed instrumentation is inserted to conduct the procedure.
“Operative time is under an hour, compared to nearly 3 hours with conventional fusion surgery. Reduced surgical trauma, less blood loss and shorter operative time means that the patient will experience faster recovery,” said Dinkins, who’s performed more AxiaLIF procedures than any other spine surgeon in Tennessee.

Every year, 40 to 60 percent of American adults suffer from chronic back pain and more than one million spine surgery procedures are performed annually in the United States with medical costs to treat back pain approaching $24 billion per year. The AxiaLIF procedure is estimated to be less costly than open surgeries. The procedure’s economic impact is felt in the dramatic decrease in operating room time, short length of stay, less need for post surgical pain medication and more rapid rehabilitation.

Over 1,700 AxiaLIF procedures have been performed in 205 hospitals in the United States. AxiaLIF is marketed by TranS1, Inc, Wilmington, NC. 

Horizon Medical Center, part of the TriStar Family of Hospitals, is a 157- bed medical center that offers the latest expertise and technology in areas including minimally invasive cardiology, outpatient imaging,  cancer, and surgery.  The medical facility from which Horizon Medical Center evolved, opened with 58 beds in 1958 and the hospital has been providing sophisticated medical and surgical care to the community for over 48 years.  Today, the medical center is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and recently awarded the Tennessee Improving Patient safety (TIPS) award for in 2006 for “Culture of Safety”.  For more information on Horizon Medical Center, please call TriStar MedLine at (615) 342-1919 or visit www.HorizonMedicalCenter.com.