Spine Surgery in Greece
General information
During the last years, more and more people choose to travel abroad for Spine Surgery, since these procedures can be extremely expensive in their countries, while in other cases there are large waiting lists in order to be operated in a public hospital.
For these reasons many people decide to travel abroad for Spine Surgery and more specifically in Greece, as it combines extremely high levels of medical services and much lower cost comparatively to other countries.
Spine Surgery in Greece
Greece is a trustworthy overseas destination for Spine Surgery and there are accredited hospitals and surgeons that perform the operations. Language and communication is not an issue, since hospitals have multilingual medical staff and doctors, providing to the visitors thorough explanation of the techniques and procedures applied.
Medical tourism in Greece is gradually picking pace, as more and more people realize the healthcare potential of the country. What make Greece a preferred destination for Spine Surgery, apart from the high level of medicine, are the modern accommodation infrastructures providing comfort, convenience and security to the foreign visitor, at a low cost. In addition, many budget airlines fly to Greece making travel easy and cheap.
Operation of Private Practices
The majority of Greek surgeons have been trained or worked abroad, so they are used to dealing with patients with different cultural backgrounds and nationalities. They usually have a private practice where consultations take place, but the operations are being performed in big, fully equipped private hospitals. It is most likely that the first appointment will be done at the surgeon's private practice, in order to meet you in person, discuss about the procedure and answer any of your questions.
Surgeons' Accreditations
When seeking for the surgeon to treat you, always bear in mind whether the surgeon is accredited or member of international medical societies. The most common are:
Eurospine: Active members are medical doctors and other professionals who are engaged in research into 
or management of the prevention and treatment of spinal disorders and their related problems. For a doctor to be eligible as active member it is necessary to demonstrate scientific or management interest in spinal disorders and their related problems. An active member has to show continued interest in spinal disorders. A new active member must provide a letter of recommendation from their Head of Department, Professional Association, or an existing member of the Society.
World Spinal Column Society – WScS: The World Spinal Column Society's mission is to advance spine 
care worldwide by connecting spine surgeons in advanced and emerging nations through high quality education, training and collaborative activities. There are two types of membership: Associate members are those surgeons who have attended one WScS meeting and Full members are those who have attended two or more WScS meetings.
Hellenic Society of Spinal Column
Operation of Hospitals and Certification
The surgery itself should take place in the hospital / clinic, as it is a safe, sterile environment where any possible complication can be dealt. In Greece, the hospitals follow international healthcare standards and are certificated or accredited by ISO, JCI or Temos.
JCI (Joint Commission International): The JCI standards provide meaningful metrics to improve the quality and patient safety in all clinical and managerial functions of acute care hospitals, as well as embrace continuous performance improvement.
Temos: The aim of this certification program is to validate and optimize the hospital's medical and non-clinical services for medical tourists including the complete patients' care cycle before travelling abroad, within the hospital and for the post-treatment and post-discharge procedures including the follow-up.
Spine Surgery Procedures
Spine surgery is performed by neurosurgeons or specialist orthopaedic surgeons. In our spine section both specialties can be found. Our collaborate physicians offer full diagnostic investigation and treatment for back pain, neck pain, sciatica, spinal trauma, sport injuries to the spine.
Spine surgeons collaborate with physiotherapists, sports phycisians and offer non-surgical and surgical solutions.
Common surgical procedures include discectomy, spinal fusion, spinal decompression and facet joint surgery while non-surgical procedures include spinal injections, nerve blocks and drug therapies.
Minimally Invasive Spine Techniques
The minimally invasive spine techniques started being performed at the 80's but since then they have developed rapidly due to the technological progress and advantages that they offer. Most of the spinal disorders, like degenerative disc disease, herniated disc, fractures, tumors, infections, instability, and deformity, can be now treated with minimally invasive spine techniques (MIS).
Not all patients are appropriate candidates for MIS. The physician is the only responsible to judge if the patient meets all the criteria to undergo minimally invasive spine surgery.
In most cases conservative treatment (physical therapy, pain medication, bracing etc) must have been applied first. If the patient still has no sign of improvement then probably is a candidate for spine surgery or minimally invasive spine surgery. It is really important to know that the decision is up to the patient, after he/she has evaluated the potential benefits, the risks and the general condition of his/her health.
The minimally invasive spine techniques consist of percutaneous or endoscopic procedures in which optical cameras and laboratory tools (microscope, endoscope, neuronavigator, fluoroscopic devices like C-arm or O-arm) are used.
| Conditions Treated | Common techniques |
| Degenerative disc disease | Percutaneous spinal fusion |
| Herniated disc | Endoscopic discectomy |
| Lumbar spinal stenosis | Percutanous microdiscectomy |
| Spinal deformities (eg scoliosis) | Percutaneous disc decompression |
| Spinal infections | Percutaneous nycleoplasty with the use of radiofrequency |
| Spinal instability | Percutaneous decompression-tumor removal |
| Vertebral compression fractures | Percutaneous kyphoplasty for osteoporotic fractures |
| Potential Risks | Potential Benefits |
| Allergic reaction | Smaller incisions |
| Bleeding | Smaller scars/less scar tissue |
| Blood vessel damage | Reduced blood loss |
| Blood clots | Less pain |
| Bruising | Less soft tissue damage |
| Headache | Reduced muscle retraction |
| Incision problems | Decreased postoperative narcotics |
| Infection | Shorter hospital stay |
| Need for further surgery | Possibility of performing on outpatient basis |
| Pain or discomfort | Faster recovery |
| Paralysis | Quicker return to work and activities |
| Spinal fluid leakage |