Jim Dawson hops on his Harley and hits the road as often as he can.
"I like the traveling. I like the wind in your hair; what hair there is," said Dawson, 69.
But until recently, riding was impossible. Arthritis and age caused Dawson's spine to degenerate.
"To move at all, I had to be bent over almost 90 degrees," Dawson explained.
A new procedure brought Dawson the relief he had been looking for. Neurosurgeons used O-Arm technology. It's a system that gives doctors 3D images in real time and sends them to a computer, which allows surgeons to use a minimally-invasive approach to operate.
"I can be on the skin with no incision; put a probe on the skin, and it will tell me exactly where I'm going to end up if I put a device in that spot," said Dr. H. Dennis Mollman, associate professor of neurosurgery at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
With traditional open back surgery, doctors said patients may need a second procedure if screws or rods are out of position.
"Now the return rate to the OR is zero," Mollman said.
Dawson said the pain in his legs disappeared right after surgery. Recovery was gradual and steady.
"Ten or 11 weeks, and I was feeling really well," Dawson said.
Within a few months, Dawson was back on the open road.
Doctors said the length of hospital stay for back surgery is traditionally seven to 10 days. With the O-Arm technology, patients are hospitalized for an average of just three days.
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