The Future of MIS Spine Surgery

Abstract

So many factors affect where minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) will go in the immediate and near future that it is hazardous, and probably foolhardy, to make predictions. Many of these factors, if not most, have little to do with surgery, medicine, or even health care. To consider this issue systematically, however, let’s first define what we mean by “minimally invasive spine surgery” and then consider the question of “Where should MISS surgery go, in a perfect world?” Then let’s examine the question, “What factors could alter the pathway of where MISS should go?” Finally, by combining the information learned from the answers to both of those questions, let’s consider the final question, “Where is MISS likely to go in the future?”.