Ben McCall/Sun Photo
DR. ALEX BAILEY is a spine specialist for Heartland Spine & Specialty Hospital, Overland Park.
Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Surgeon uses new technology for herniated discs
By: Holly Kramer, Staff Affiliate
Holly Kramer
Staff affiliate
After suffering a second herniated disc in August 2007, an Overland Park resident decided to try a new treatment option.
Joshua Kleier, 20, has degenerative disc disease. His mother has the same condition, and Joshua’s participation in high school wrestling and football exacerbated his own disc problems.
Kleier heard about Alex Bailey, a spine surgeon with Heartland Spine & Specialty Hospital in Overland Park, through his mother.
Bailey used an FDA approved device that aims to prevent recurrent disc herniations in patients that have had lumbar discectomy procedures.
The device, made by Anulex, is the XcloseTM Tissue Repair System. The system has two polyester bands that are placed on either side of the tissue defect and are drawn together to fill in the gap. The device forms an “X” shape.
Following the surgery, Kleier said, he recovered quickly.
“The recovery time was incredible and I felt immediate relief following my surgery,” Kleier said. “It was great not to have to take pain medication.
“I was able to return to work and get back to doing things that I enjoy such as hiking and playing with my dogs.”
The Xclose system is aimed for patients like Kleier who have recurrent herniated discs, Bailey said.
A herniated disc results in the compression of nerve roots, Bailey said.
“It usually results in leg pain, numbness, tingling and weakness,” Bailey said. “The treatment of a herniated disc can consist of physical therapy or epidural steroid injections. When those fail, surgical intervention is often required.”
Herniated discs are the most frequent problem he sees, Bailey said.
When a disc fragment comes out of a disc base, it pushes up against the nerve root. A lumbar discemtomy aims to remove the disc fragment.
“Sometimes we get inside the disc with a scalpel and take that fragment out,” Bailey said. “Other times, nature has caused the hole and the fragment has come completely out. When we’re done with that, traditionally, that’s all we do. We leave that hole there.”
With the hole still there, Bailey said, recurrence is one of the most common complications of the surgery.
“Any time, either immediately after or a year or so later, another fragment can find its way out of the hole,” Bailey said.
Bailey said the XcloseTM system can help repair the hole.
“We put stitches with anchors and tie them,” Bailey said. “It takes the hole and closes the annulus rather than leave that hole there. ... It allows for faster healing and hopefully reduces recurrences.”
Bailey has been using the device for nine months. Bailey and two other doctors are involved with a multi-center clinical trial to use the device on patients and follow their progress.
“The three of us in the study have completed approximately 50 procedures,” Bailey said. “It started six months ago. Nationwide, there have been 250 patients enrolled at 27 centers. There’s an enrollment goal of 500.”
The goal of the study is to find if the device reduces recurrences.
“If we can reduce those problems, it benefits patients’ work, life, family significantly,” Bailey said.
Bailey said the feedback has been positive.
“It’s been quite good,” he said. “Following these patients long-term is where the rubber meets the road so we can see the results for the future. Ultimately, this could alter what could become standard of care for patients in terms of treatment.”
printable version
e-mail this story
Staff affiliate
After suffering a second herniated disc in August 2007, an Overland Park resident decided to try a new treatment option.
Joshua Kleier, 20, has degenerative disc disease. His mother has the same condition, and Joshua’s participation in high school wrestling and football exacerbated his own disc problems.
Kleier heard about Alex Bailey, a spine surgeon with Heartland Spine & Specialty Hospital in Overland Park, through his mother.
Bailey used an FDA approved device that aims to prevent recurrent disc herniations in patients that have had lumbar discectomy procedures.
The device, made by Anulex, is the XcloseTM Tissue Repair System. The system has two polyester bands that are placed on either side of the tissue defect and are drawn together to fill in the gap. The device forms an “X” shape.
Following the surgery, Kleier said, he recovered quickly.
“The recovery time was incredible and I felt immediate relief following my surgery,” Kleier said. “It was great not to have to take pain medication.
“I was able to return to work and get back to doing things that I enjoy such as hiking and playing with my dogs.”
The Xclose system is aimed for patients like Kleier who have recurrent herniated discs, Bailey said.
A herniated disc results in the compression of nerve roots, Bailey said.
“It usually results in leg pain, numbness, tingling and weakness,” Bailey said. “The treatment of a herniated disc can consist of physical therapy or epidural steroid injections. When those fail, surgical intervention is often required.”
Herniated discs are the most frequent problem he sees, Bailey said.
When a disc fragment comes out of a disc base, it pushes up against the nerve root. A lumbar discemtomy aims to remove the disc fragment.
“Sometimes we get inside the disc with a scalpel and take that fragment out,” Bailey said. “Other times, nature has caused the hole and the fragment has come completely out. When we’re done with that, traditionally, that’s all we do. We leave that hole there.”
With the hole still there, Bailey said, recurrence is one of the most common complications of the surgery.
“Any time, either immediately after or a year or so later, another fragment can find its way out of the hole,” Bailey said.
Bailey said the XcloseTM system can help repair the hole.
“We put stitches with anchors and tie them,” Bailey said. “It takes the hole and closes the annulus rather than leave that hole there. ... It allows for faster healing and hopefully reduces recurrences.”
Bailey has been using the device for nine months. Bailey and two other doctors are involved with a multi-center clinical trial to use the device on patients and follow their progress.
“The three of us in the study have completed approximately 50 procedures,” Bailey said. “It started six months ago. Nationwide, there have been 250 patients enrolled at 27 centers. There’s an enrollment goal of 500.”
The goal of the study is to find if the device reduces recurrences.
“If we can reduce those problems, it benefits patients’ work, life, family significantly,” Bailey said.
Bailey said the feedback has been positive.
“It’s been quite good,” he said. “Following these patients long-term is where the rubber meets the road so we can see the results for the future. Ultimately, this could alter what could become standard of care for patients in terms of treatment.”