Minimally Invasive Spinal Deformity Surgery

Minimally invasive spinal surgery is a very appealing and timely concept. Small incisions, minimal blood loss, and less retraction to the muscles should contribute to faster recovery and probably a better outcome. As the authors stated correctly, minimal invasive spinal surgery is currently commonplace. However, sound proof in favor of the theoretical concept is still lacking. In this book the editors focus on minimally invasive spinal deformity surgery. Although the title suggests any spinal deformity at any age, the main topic is the degenerative spine in an adult population. The book is written from an American perspective, which is logical since all contributions are from the U.S. The book is divided in sections (parts). Although all contributions are valuable to the book, it is not clear tomewhy the editors allocated some contributions to specific sections. For example, in the part III dealing with posterior appoaches three chapters discussed several cages, whereas part VI was meant for discussing achieving intersegmental arthrodesis. The topic of the first part is the principles of deformity surgery. I completely understand that sagittal balance, lumbopelvic parameters, the importance of the fractional curve, and the MiSLAT algorithm must be explained to understand some principles. However, epidemiology, radiation safety and costs of minimally invasive spine surgery could have been allocated to a separate heading. Most chapters describe concisely the technique, its indications and complications illustrated with intraoperative pictures or well drawn illustrations. Despite of the (for me) sometimes unlogical allocation of chapters, I think, the book is a valuable completion of the library of each practising spinal surgeon, spine fellow, and senior resident, since several minimal invasive spinal operative techniques and radiological concepts are concisely described.