Frankfort, KY (June 7, 2010) - When her hip and back pain got so bad that she could no longer walk through the grocery story or play with her grandchildren, Frankfort resident Leona Barnes decided it was time to get help. Now, thanks to a new surgical procedure performed by Richard Lingreen, M.D., a board-certified pain management physician, she's regained freedom of movement she thought she had lost forever.
Leona, 70, is one of more than 1.5 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain and immobility caused by lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a degenerative, age-related narrowing of the lower spinal canal that causes pressure on the nerves. Frankfort Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in Kentucky to offer LSS patients a groundbreaking new treatment option called mild® (Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression) - performed by Dr. Lingreen. The least invasive surgical treatment for LSS, mild® brings immediate and lasting relief - often allowing patients to go home the same day and resume normal activities within days - and it leaves no surgical implants behind in the body.
"We are excited to be the only hospital in the area offering this leading-edge procedure," said Dr. Lingreen. "There are no implants, sutures or staples, which means no scarring. Patients often experience pain relief within hours of the procedure."
Learn more about Leona's story and mild® that aired on WTVQ-36
mild® is the first minimally invasive surgical treatment to provide immediate and lasting relief by restoring space in the spinal canal and relieving pressure on the nerves caused by LSS. mild® is an image-guided procedure that is most often performed on an outpatient basis. During the mild® procedure, the physician uses a set of devices to remove the bone or tissue causing pressure on the nerves through an incision the diameter of a pencil. There are no incisions, implants, sutures or staples; only a band-aid is required. Patients often feel relief within two hours.
"Before the mild procedure, I could barely get out of bed in the morning and make it to the couch due to the pain," said Leona. "Now, I'm able to work in my garden and play with my grandchildren - pain free. I didn't want to undergo traditional back surgery, and with the mild procedure, I was able to stand and walk with significant less pain the same day of my procedure - all from the comfort of my home."
mild® may be appropriate for those who are no longer responding to physical therapy, pain medications and/or steroid injections but who do not want to undergo more invasive lumbar spine decompression surgeries (such as interspinous spacer implantation or laminectomy) or fusion. These surgeries often involve weeks or months of recovery time, and involve leaving artificial implants or other hardware behind, which may deteriorate or fracture.
Initial clinical data for mild® indicate an average 75 percent reduction in pain and greater than 70 percent increase in mobility. In addition, most patients can decrease use of narcotics or pain medication at 6 weeks.1
For more information, please call (877) FRMC-MD1 ((877) 376-2631) or visit www.mildkentucky.com. Additional information is available at www.vertosmed.com.
1 Spine Technology Education Group, Innovative Techniques in Spine Surgery, June 18-21, 2008, Los Cabos, Mexico: 90% decrease in pain as measured by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), as well as improved mobility, represented by a decrease in the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) of 84%. No complications or adverse events reported. All patients discontinued the use of narcotics or pain medication at 6 weeks following the MILD procedure.
* Vertos mild is FDA market cleared for treating central canal stenosis of the lumbar spine.