A neurosurgical spine specialist at the Sea Spine Orthopedic Institute in Orlando, Florida, Dr. Michael Thomas is a neurosurgeon who leverages a quarter century of medical experience to provide treatment options for spinal conditions. Remaining on the cutting edge of spinal surgeries, Dr. Michael Thomas has focused his practice as a neurosurgeon on minimally invasive spinal surgeries that utilize advances in surgical tools to facilitate a quick recovery for patients. Among the tools employed in minimally invasive spinal surgeries are tubular retractors.

1. Tubular Retractors - Facilitating
Making Minimally Invasive Surgeries
Dr. Michael Thomas, Neurosurgeon

2. Introduction
 A neurosurgical spine specialist at the Sea Spine
Orthopedic Institute in Orlando, Florida, Dr. Michael
Thomas is a neurosurgeon who leverages a quarter
century of medical experience to provide treatment
options for spinal conditions. Remaining on the cutting
edge of spinal surgeries, Dr. Michael Thomas has
focused his practice as a neurosurgeon on minimally
invasive spinal surgeries that utilize advances in surgical
tools to facilitate a quick recovery for patients. Among the
tools employed in minimally invasive spinal surgeries are
tubular retractors.
Retractors are surgical tools that provide surgeons with
clear access to and vision of the surgical site. In many
surgeries, retractors are inserted into incisions and used
to move tissue and muscle out of the way.

3. Tubular Retractors
 Retractors used in conventional spinal surgeries pull
back muscle and tissue along incisions five to six inches
in length.
Tubular retractors are hollow cylinders that can be
inserted into incisions of less than one inch in length,
then dilated to move muscle and tissues out of the way.
Any material that needs to be removed is taken out
through the tubular retractor, and surgical tools such as
tools and rods are inserted through the retractor. Since
tubular retractors disturb a smaller area of the body, they
tend to cause less muscle and tissue damage than
conventional retractors, and therefore lead to less time
spent in hospital, smaller scars, and a faster recovery.
Beyond minimally invasive spinal surgeries, surgeons
have begun to use tubular retractors in a variety of other
surgeries.