Rohit Shishodia
Doctors at a Mumbai hospital have managed to relieve a 47-year-old shopkeeper with acute spine pain by performing stitchless button hole surgery on him. This painless procedure is safe, involves a short hospital stay, and aids faster recovery. The patient is pain-free now and has resumed his daily routine.

Button hole surgery is a day-care procedure wherein the bulged disc is removed with an endoscope and the decompressed nerve is released.

Doctors at Apollo Spectra Hospital, Mumbai, where the surgery took place, have said that button hole stitchless endoscopic decompression is very safe with minimal to almost negligible chances of complications.

Abdul Gani Sheikh, the shopkeeper, suffered from back pain since June 2020. He had sudden deterioration and suffered sudden and acute back and leg pain. The patient couldn’t even move his leg due to the pain and numbness. His life was disrupted as he couldn’t go to his shop or bathroom or even sit or sleep as he was screaming with pain.

“After MRI and blood investigations, the patient was diagnosed with sciatica and treated with button hole surgery, also called stitchless endoscopic disc decompression, under local anesthesia. The procedure lasted for 45 minutes,” said the hospital in a press release.

The patient, after the surgery, is now pain-free with leg power returned to normal. Before the operation, the patient had a pain severity of 10/10 (10 being the most severe pain that anyone can experience). Post-operation, he was totally free of pain.

The number of people in the age group of 40-60 years suffering from sciatica, slip disc, back, and leg pain is increasing. 80% of population suffers from back pain at some point of life and out of that 1/3rd (25-30% of total population) keep suffering from slipped disc and sciatica.

Doctors have pointed out that most of the patients are reluctant to go in for spine surgery. Sciatica is a type of radicular back and leg pain that occurs due to the compression of one or more of the five sets of nerve roots in one’s lower back leading to pain, numbness, or weakness in the lower back, buttock(s), or leg(s) on one or both sides. Hence, stitchless button hole surgery can be a good option for patients with sciatica and slip disc.

Dr Kailash Kothari, Interventional Spine & Pain Management Specialist at Apollo Spectra Hospital, Mumbai, said, “Patient Abdul Gani was scheduled to undergo this pain-less procedure. The patients with severe back pain who do not respond to conservative therapy have to have spine surgery. These surgeries may have more chances of many long-term complications like delayed recovery, failed surgery syndrome, nerve injury, infection, etc.”

“But, button hole surgery is a day-care procedure wherein the bulged disc is removed with an endoscope and the decompressed nerve is released. In turn, the patient is able to get rid of the back pain,” informed Dr Kothari.