Hand Holding During Light Sedation for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Improves Outcomes

Minimally invasive spine interventions have emerged as a treatment options for patients with previous spine surgery and patients who have never before been operated upon. These procedures can be done safely in patients with advanced comorbid conditions, previous failed major spine procedures, and in patients who have decided to try the least invasive approach to address their lumbo-sacral spine condition in hopes of avoiding more major and potentially morbid procedures. These endoscopic procedures are typically done as outpatients with light sedation, ideally rendering the patient calm but completely cooperative and able to respond in real-time to questions from the surgeon during the procedure. This has implications for the progress and success of the procedure, the safety of the procedure and allows for a short ambulatory hospital stay. Hand holding has been shown to improve outcomes such as compliance, procedural success and patient comfort with patients undergoing light sedation for a variety of procedures. The purpose of this study is to determine whether adding hand holding to light sedation for minimally invasive spine procedures has a positive impact on patient satisfaction and perioperative outcomes.