Patients undergoing a recently introduced endoscopic spinal surgery at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre are spending hours in hospital after surgery instead of days, according to Alberta Health Services.
Related Stories:
AHS said nearly 100 patients have been treated since the procedure was first performed in Alberta 16 months ago.
The surgery is part of the Calgary Endoscopic Spine Surgery Research and Advancement program, known as CESSRA, at Foothills Medical Centre.
The program is led by Calgary neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Yang.
AHS said Foothills is believed to be only one of a handful of health-care facilities in Canada offering the procedure.
The operation is known as ultra-minimally invasive percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.
AHS said traditional spinal fusion requires a 10-centimetre incision, while the new operation uses five pencil-sized punctures in the lower back.
Through those punctures, surgeons can remove a damaged disc and insert hardware to stabilize the spine, using an endoscopic camera to guide the operation.
Since the CESSRA program was introduced in January 2025, the average post-operative hospital stay has been four to six hours, compared with three days for traditional spinal fusion, AHS said.
The health authority said average blood loss is roughly one-tenth of the blood loss using the traditional method.
“By not having to open the patient up, we’re not disrupting muscle and bones to reach our target, meaning there’s far less blood loss, less pain, and patients can start their recovery almost immediately,” Yang said.
Yang said the operation also helps free up beds and staff.
“Not only is this good for the patient but, by doing this as a day surgery, we free up beds and staff to support other patients in need,” he said. “This really aligns with Alberta Health Services’ goal of trying to do more surgery in ambulatory centres and building capacity within the healthcare system.”
Dale Bingham, 71, of Red Deer, was among the first patients who met the criteria for the program.
AHS said two misaligned vertebrae in Bingham’s lower spine were compressing nerve roots, causing extreme pain when he walked or got out of bed.
After surgery, Bingham was moving right away and slept in his own bed that night, according to AHS.
“I could tell with those first steps that the pain was gone,” Bingham said. “The old-man syndrome, as I call it when you get out of bed and can’t walk because of how much it hurts, had become all I could remember. I don’t have that anymore.”
The CESSRA program is supported by the Calgary Health Foundation, which has a fundraising goal of more than $9 million over five years to help implement the program.
“This program is a powerful example of what philanthropy makes possible in healthcare,” said Paul Rossmann, president and CEO of the Calgary Health Foundation.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM.