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Appointments

OrthoWest · Carrollton, Georgia

Endoscopic Spine Surgery

Ultra-minimally invasive care through less than dime-sized incisions, with motion-preserving options when they fit.

AppointmentsMRI Review

Your surgeon

Drew Albert, MD MBA

Spine surgeon at OrthoWest in Carrollton, Georgia. Fellowship-trained in endoscopic and motion-preserving spine surgery.

AboutProcedures
Portrait of Drew Albert, MD MBA
Healed 8 mm endoscopic spine incision next to a U.S. dime for scale

Ultra-minimally invasive

Less than a dime

Endoscopic approaches use a pencil-width camera and instruments through an incision often about 8 mm.

Patient education imagery courtesy of Arthrex. Used with permission.

Why endoscopic

Smaller path. Clearer recovery goals.

  • May allow faster recovery and return to normal activity8
  • Studies report lower complication rates in selected patients, along with less disruption to surrounding soft tissue and a shorter hospital stay3,5,9
  • For facet joint pain, endoscopic neurotomy gave significantly better pain relief at 12 months than percutaneous radiofrequency ablation in a 2024 meta-analysis10
  • Requires smaller incisions, which leads to less muscle trauma compared to open or tubular surgeries

Endoscopic options

Four approaches. One philosophy.

Matched to your anatomy and diagnosis, not a one-size-fits-all incision.

Illustration of endoscope positioned for medial branch nerve transection at the lumbar facet
01

Medial Branch Transection

Targets facet-related low-back pain by transecting the medial branch sensory nerve through an endoscopic approach.

Learn more
Illustration of endoscope accessing an L5–S1 disc herniation via the interlaminar approach
02

Interlaminar Approach

Treats herniated discs and stenosis, commonly at L4–L5 or L5–S1, with direct endoscopic visualization.

Related reading
Illustration of endoscope accessing the spine through a transforaminal approach with highlighted nerve target
03

Transforaminal Approach

Removes herniated disc material through a small incision along the ridge of the back, often at L3–L4 or L4–L5.

View procedures
Illustration of endoscope performing a posterior cervical foraminotomy to decompress a cervical nerve root
04

Posterior Cervical Foraminotomy

Relieves cervical nerve-root compression from the back of the neck through a small endoscopic corridor, often for arm pain or radiculopathy from foraminal stenosis or disc pathology.

View procedures

Published literature

From published, peer-reviewed studies (linked). These are not Dr. Albert's personal results.

6 days

Estimated median return to work for patients in light-work jobs after outpatient endoscopic decompression for a lumbar disc herniation (442 patients; 13 days for medium work, 20 days for heavy work)4

88%

Average return-to-play rate at 3 months after endoscopic spine surgery in athletes (literature review)7

Postoperative management is patient-specific and dependent on the treating professional's assessment. Individual results will vary and not all patients will experience the same postoperative activity level or outcomes.

Next step

How can I help?

Book an appointment

Clinic visit at Ortho West Spine in Carrollton.

Appointments

MRI review

Education-first look at your imaging before any commitment to surgery.

Start MRI review

Clinic

Ortho West Spine

812 S Park St Ste 3
Carrollton, GA 30117

Directions

References

  1. 1.Zhou T, Salman D, McGregor AH. Recent clinical practice guidelines for the management of low back pain: a global comparison. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2024;25(1):344.
  2. 2.Urits I, Burshtein A, Sharma M, et al. Low back pain, a comprehensive review: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2019;23(3):23.
  3. 3.Ruetten S, Komp M, Merk H, Godolias G. Use of newly developed instruments and endoscopes: full-endoscopic resection of lumbar disc herniations via the interlaminar and lateral transforaminal approach. J Neurosurg Spine. 2007;6(6):521-530.
  4. 4.Lewandrowski KU, Ransom NA, Yeung A. Return to work and recovery time analysis after outpatient endoscopic lumbar transforaminal decompression surgery. J Spine Surg. 2020;6(Suppl 1):S100-S115.
  5. 5.Polikandriotis JA, Hudak EM, Perry MW. Minimally invasive surgery through endoscopic laminotomy and foraminotomy for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis. J Orthop. 2013;10(1):13-16.
  6. 6.Sairyo K, Matsuura T, Higashino K, et al. Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy for athletes. J Spine. 2013;S5(006):1-4.
  7. 7.Sivakanthan S, Williams JR, Feroze AH, et al. Endoscopic spine surgery in athletes: case series and review of literature. World Neurosurg. 2021;145:702-707.
  8. 8.Gadjradj PS, Broulikova HM, van Dongen JM, et al. Cost-effectiveness of full endoscopic versus open discectomy for sciatica. Br J Sports Med. 2022;56(18):1018-1025.
  9. 9.Page PS, Ammanuel SG, Josiah DT. Evaluation of endoscopic versus open lumbar discectomy: a multi-center retrospective review utilizing the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database. Cureus. 2022;14(5):e25202.
  10. 10.Du R, Gao J, Wang B, et al. Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation and endoscopic neurotomy for lumbar facet joint syndrome: are they good enough? Eur Spine J. 2024;33(2):463-473.
  11. 11.Siddiqi F, Romero J, O’Donnel C, Hayes V. Five year long-term results of endoscopic dorsal ramus rhizotomy and anatomic variations of the painful lumbar facet joint. Paper presented at: Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Annual Conference; November 1-3, 2013; Las Vegas, NV.
  12. 12.Ruetten S, Komp M, Merk H, Godolias G. Full-endoscopic interlaminar and transforaminal lumbar discectomy versus conventional microsurgical technique: a prospective, randomized, controlled study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2008;33(9):931-939.

Reference list aligned with Arthrex Endoscopic Spine. Links open PubMed or the publisher DOI when available.

Clinical illustrations and patient-education imagery courtesy of Arthrex. Used with permission.