Dr. Mark Valente | BEST OF WINNER | DISC Spine Institute

Alternatives do exist. Spinal fusion has become the most common spine surgery performed, but for patients who are good candidates, DISC Spine Institute founder and medical director Dr. Valente is pioneering a procedure to treat the same issues as fusion without screws, rods, or cages. The procedure is so minimally invasive, it doesn’t even require a suture. He’s calling it the minimally invasive, Intra-Disc Decompression (IDD). When we talked to the doctor, he also called it “a Band-Aid procedure.” For those who have had back or leg pain for more than six weeks, and have exhausted the alternatives, the surgery could be life-changing.

Band-Aid Surgery

The doctor put the phrase “minimally invasive” into perspective. “When go home, all they need is a little Band-Aid,” he said. Good candidates might also be relieved to learn that the entire procedure takes less than an hour. The Intra-Disc Decompression procedure is an even less invasive alternative to other open or minimally invasive non-fusion surgeries being performed. At a healing time of around two weeks, patients return to Dr. Valente’s office for a check-up. This option allows for a speedy recovery and return to normal life. In contrast, spinal fusion can take up to a year of recovery.

“It’s not for everybody but some people will be great candidates,” he said.

Nuts and Bolts

Avoiding nuts, bolts, and cages could be an excellent reason to find out if you could benefit from Dr. Valente’s approach. The doctor easily explains how the procedure works, giving us a step-by-step description of the procedure.

“The incision is smaller than an eraser head and requires no dissecting of tissues or stripping of bones, muscles, ligaments, or tendons. There is barely a teaspoon of blood loss. Then, I insert a dilator. It’s a little metal instrument smaller than a pencil that goes over the wire, allowing me to pull the wire out. Now you have a working channel, or a hollow tube smaller than a pencil. Through that, I insert instruments to remove some disc material, which takes the pressure out of the disc,” he said.

Pressure on the disc adds stress to it while it may already be weak, explained Dr. Valente. Damage sustained through tears, bulges, protrusion, or herniations, and any nerve roots that the disc could be compressing are thus relieved from extra pressure through this Intra-Disc Decompression procedure. “Essentially, we’re decompressing the disc from the inside to get the pressure off the outer rim,” said the doctor.

Trends in Spine Problems

Today’s world challenges the spine in ways unheard of for previous generations, but like previous generations, the effects of insults to the spine can create problems many people do not realize stem from this area.

Problems like gait imbalance and bowel or bladder dysfunction can stem from issues like spinal cord compression. Other symptoms of spinal cord compression are difficulties with manual dexterity and the fine motor movements of your hands, such as challenges picking up small objects, dropping things unexpectedly, sloppy hand writing and/or difficulty buttoning buttons. More commonly associated issues with the spine and spinal nerves include pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness.

Dr. Valente told us that with an increase in time spent seated and a decrease in time spent in physical activity, more pressure is put on the spinal discs, cueing earlier disc degeneration. He also said that a rise in “tech-neck,” caused by looking down at devices, phones, or laptops for anywhere from one to eight hours a day “puts your neck in a flexion position, compresses your disc, and predisposes you to disc tears, disc degeneration, and disc herniations. It could also be leading to spinal nerve and spinal cord compression.”

Sitting is one thing, but even Tiger Woods, an elite athlete who has also undergone multiple spinal surgeries, has gone under the knife, proving that even moving the back regularly can put one in the path of back pain.

DISC Spine Institute

Dr. Valente’s approach always starts with exhausting conservative options before resorting to any spinal surgery. Those options include anti-inflammatories, chiropractic care, physical therapy, and home exercise, all of which make the best first plan of attack when it comes to spine pain. With experience that includes two decades of spine surgery and 14 years of private practice, along with being voted Best Spine Surgeon in Keller and North Tarrant County, he understands that every patient is unique, and has found success in treating them all as individuals with their own goals. Having established the DISC Spine Institute a dozen years ago, he’s expanded the office to serve the greater community as much as possible. In offering this minimally invasive, disc decompression procedure, he’s able to help those people who are good candidates, including those with degenerative disc, bulging disc, protruding disc, herniated disc, and annular (disc) tears.

“I would say that very few surgeons in the country are doing this minimally invasive, Intra-Disc Decompression surgery as a fusion alternative,” he said. Though the tools are available, medical trends, such as fusions, sometimes favor procedures which might not always serve the patient’s best interests in the long run. In the case of DISC Spine Institute, Dr. Valente is proud to help present an option that allows patients to take some of the power back.

In addition to this procedure, the DISC Spine Institute performs a range of other minimally invasive procedures, including back and neck surgery. For those who feel they may benefit, Dr. Valente encourages a scheduled visit to any of his locations.