Luz Saúde SA

04/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/04/2024 04:48

José Miguel Sousa, doctorate degree in Medicine

The Hospital da Luz orthopaedist researched on minimally invasive surgical techniques to treat spinal diseases.

José Miguel Sousa, Hospital da Luz orthopaedist, concluded his doctorate degree in Medicine, last March 1st, at the Faculty of Medical Sciences / Nova Medical School, Lisbon Nova University. His thesis - entitled "Endoscopic Spine Surgery - Transforaminal access to the lower lumbar spine", which earned the unanimous approval of the jury with praise and distinction - was dedicated to the techniques of spine endoscopic surgery, its challenges and results.

Endoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat herniated discs, channel stenosis and other degenerative diseases of the spine. In his doctorate research, José Miguel Sousa approached the anatomical challenges associated to the spine endoscopic surgery, specifically the transforaminal access to the lower lumbar spine, and the performance of lumbar intersomatic arthrodesis assisted by intraforaminal endoscopy (iLIF).

The research work, published in several international journals, included:

  • A systematic revision of literature and meta-analysis on the state-of-the-art concerning the iLIF technique and its comparison with lumbar intersomatic arthrodesis via minimally invasive transforaminal access (MI-TLIF);
  • The imaging evaluation of 200 patients (a project conducted in collaboration with radiologist Vasco Mascarenhas;
  • The development of a new surgical technique to perform iLIF in the L5S1 disc space, presenting the results of studies on cadaver and the initial clinical experience with this technique.

"In the surgical treatment of the lumbar disc degenerative pathology, iLIF showed, when compared with MI-TLIF, lower intraoperative loss of blood, shorter hospitalization time, considerable clinical improvement and high fusion rates, with no significant difference in complication rates", explained José Miguel Sousa.

The advisors of this thesis were José Guimarães Consciência and João Gamelas, both from Nova Medical School.

In the photo above, the new doctor and the jury: José Guimarães Consciência, Rui Duarte (School of Medicine, Minho University), Pedro Fernandes (Faculty of Medicine, Lisbon University), José Miguel Sousa, Jaime Branco (Nova Medical School and president of the jury), Nuno Neves (Faculty of Medicine, Porto University), and Maximo Alberto Ulloa (Faculty of Medicine, Santiago de Compostela University, Spain).