New spinal surgery program in Calgary gets patients home within hours

The Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, Alta., is seen on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

A new ultra-minimally invasive spinal surgery being performed in Calgary is allowing some patients to go home within hours instead of days.

The procedure, known as percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, or TLIF, is part of the Calgary Endoscopic Spine Surgery Research and Advancement program, or CESSRA, at Foothills Medical Centre.

Nearly 100 patients have undergone the surgery in Alberta since it was introduced 16 months ago.

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Foothills is one of only a handful of health-care facilities in Canada offering the technique.

Traditional spinal fusion typically requires a 10-centimetre incision.

The newer approach uses five small punctures, each about the diameter of a pencil, allowing surgeons to remove a damaged disc and insert hardware to stabilize the spine using an endoscopic camera.

Since the CESSRA program was introduced in January 2025, the average post-operative hospital stay has been four to six hours, compared to about three days for traditional spinal fusion. Average blood loss during the procedure is roughly one-tenth of what is typically seen.

Dr. Michael Yang, a neurosurgeon at Foothills Medical Centre who leads the program, says the technique reduces surgical impact.

“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.

“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. This really aligns with Alberta Health Services’ goal of trying to do more surgery in ambulatory centres and building capacity within the health care system,” he said.

Dale Bingham, a 71-year-old from Red Deer, says two misaligned vertebrae in his lower spine left him in severe pain when walking or getting out of bed.

Following the surgery, he said he was able to get up and move right away and was back home the same day.

“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 program is supported by the Calgary Health Foundation, which has set a fundraising goal of more than $9 million over five years to help expand access to the procedure.

Paul Rossmann, president and CEO of the Calgary Health Foundation, says philanthropic support is helping accelerate the program.

“This program is a powerful example of what philanthropy makes possible in healthcare,” Rossmann said. “Philanthropic support allows us to accelerate the adoption of leading-edge techniques, helping physicians like Dr. Yang bring innovation into practice, and expand surgical capacity in a way that directly improves patient lives while strengthening the health care system.”