Lumbar Spine Procedures

Advanced Surgical Solutions for Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain can be life-altering, impacting your ability to work, exercise, or enjoy daily activities. At Spine Care Specialists of Alaska, our board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. John Lopez, provides advanced lumbar spine procedures designed to relieve pain, restore stability, and help you get back to living a full, active life.

Using state-of-the-art technology, including BrainLab image-guided navigation, we deliver precision and safer outcomes with minimally invasive and traditional approaches tailored to each patient.

Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (PLIF)

PLIF is a common and effective procedure for patients with disc degeneration, spinal instability, or spondylolisthesis. Through a posterior (back) incision, the damaged disc is removed and replaced with a spacer or bone graft, allowing the vertebrae to fuse over time for long-term stability.

Benefits:

  • Restores spinal stability

  • Reduces pain and nerve pressure

  • High success rate for long-term relief

Posterior Lumbar Fusion

This procedure stabilizes the spine without removing the disc, using rods and screws to fuse affected vertebrae. It is often used for fractures, deformities, or severe instability that isn’t responding to non-surgical care.

Benefits:

  • Corrects deformity or misalignment

  • Provides durable stabilization

  • Reduces risk of future injury or nerve irritation

Extreme Lumbar Interbody Fusion (XLIF)

The XLIF procedure is a minimally invasive approach performed through the patient’s side, avoiding large back incisions. It’s ideal for patients needing disc height restoration and decompression while reducing muscle disruption.

Benefits:

  • Minimally invasive with smaller incision

  • Less blood loss and quicker recovery

  • Effective restoration of disc height and alignment

Lumbar Laminectomy

A lumbar laminectomy removes the lamina — the back part of the vertebra — to relieve pressure on the spinal nerves caused by stenosis or other narrowing.

Benefits:

  • Significant relief of nerve compression

  • Improves walking tolerance and reduces leg pain

  • Often performed with fusion for added stability in certain cases

Lumbar Decompression

Lumbar decompression is designed to remove bone or tissue pressing on spinal nerves, often due to herniated discs, bone spurs, or thickened ligaments.

Benefits:

  • Minimally invasive option for nerve pain

  • Rapid improvement in pain and mobility

  • May delay or prevent the need for fusion surgery

Neurosurgery

BrainLab Surgical Suite

BrainLab Curve, Cirq, X-Loop, and Virtual Sight: Advanced robotic and imaging technology for precise surgical planning and execution, enhancing surgical outcomes and patient recovery.

Advanced Surgical Techniques

Robotic Assistance: Utilizing robotic technology to perform complex spinal surgeries with increased accuracy and reduced recovery times.

Minimally Invasive Techniques: Focused on reducing patient recovery times and improving surgical outcomes with the latest in minimally invasive surgical technology.

Virtual Planning for Precision

3D Virtual Planning: Dr. Lopez uses 3D imaging to plan surgeries, guiding patients through the process and ensuring the highest precision during operations.