Dr. Alex Sielatycki has performed thousands of spine fusions over the years — he said it’s one of the “workhorses” of spine surgeries for those who need that level of help.

But it’s a long, limited recovery taking an average of three months.

“I focus on ways to avoid doing fusion surgeries,” he said in a hospital release. “We do a lot of cervical disc replacements, with very good results. In the lumbar spine, we have been limited in our options. We can do non instrumented decompression operations, which we do commonly, and they work pretty well. But when there is more advanced disease and significant joint degeneration, then fusion is often the only answer.”

At least, that was the case until almost two years ago, when the FDA approved the TOPS System, a mechanical implant device that attaches to the spine.

“The lumbar facet joint replacement, the TOPS device, is the first technology that we have that allows us to completely remove diseased facet joints, perform a complete decompression of the nerves, but not have to fuse the spine,” he said. “We can provide stability that is dynamic and still allows the spine to move. It’s exciting to be able to offer this to folks now.”

Sielatycki said in an interview, soon after performing the first TOPS System surgery in the state at Powell Valley Healthcare, that TOPS is part of a changing of the tide as far as spine surgeries, one of new wave of technologies that allows surgeons to preserve spinal motion instead of performing fusions for patients with spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis.

“The device is a flexible, or dynamic stabilizer,” Sielatycki said. “It functions like the facet joints by allowing the spine to move but not too much, preventing excessive shifting.”

Full recovery after a TOPS System is just four to six weeks. However, Sielatycki said after a fusion surgery, because the fusion is “non-physiologic … patients may have some lifetime limitations to avoid injury to adjacent levels in their back.”

“Even during the recovery there are fewer restrictions with TOPS: patients are allowed to bend and twist and move their spines whereas with fusions we restrict those activities for three months,” he said. “One of the key differences to note is that upon full recovery from TOPS there are no activity restrictions of any kind. I encourage people to keep their backs moving and to reengage in all athletic activities to their level of tolerance.”

Sielatycki began offering the technology six months ago at his home clinic in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and in late March had the chance to perform the first such surgery in Powell, where he travels regularly to perform surgeries.

The recipient of the new technology is Diane Monahan, who lives in Gillette

“I’m 67,  but I’m very active,” she said in a release. “I swam three days a week, did Zumba, and my husband and I are golfers. I had to quit these things. I told Dr. Sielatycki I want to do this procedure, and I want to get back to my life. I’m very excited.”

Sielatycki said her experience is no outlier.

“So far I’ve been very pleased and impressed with how well the patients have done,” he said. “The primary benefit of TOPS or other motion preserving options is that patients can avoid the pitfalls of spinal fusion and enjoy the pain relief from decompressing nerves without altering the mechanics of their spine. The spine was created to move, we now have some great ways of preserving and even restoring that function.”