Spine Surgery Procedures We Perform
Maxim Spine offers advanced spine surgery options designed to help you feel better faster, with less pain and a quicker recovery. We focus on minimally invasive procedures — smaller incisions, less disruption to surrounding tissue, and shorter downtime. Common treatments include endoscopic discectomy and foraminotomy, which relieve pressure on nerves caused by herniated discs or spinal narrowing. These techniques ease back and leg pain without the need for open surgery.
If your spine needs additional support, we also perform minimally invasive spinal fusions to restore stability. For patients who want to avoid fusion and preserve natural movement, we offer the FDA-cleared TOPS System, a posterior arthroplasty implant that relieves pressure while allowing the lumbar spine to keep moving. Dr. Scott Meyer introduced the TOPS System to New Jersey.
Whether you are dealing with chronic pain, a disc problem, or spinal instability, our board-certified surgeons combine current technology with a patient-first approach across our Cedar Knolls, Morristown, Bridgewater, and Verona offices.
Our Spine Procedures
Minimally Invasive vs. Traditional Open Spine Surgery
Traditional open spine surgery uses a single long incision and moves muscle away from the spine to give the surgeon a wide view. It remains the right choice for complex deformity, multi-level reconstruction, and revision cases where broad access matters.
Minimally invasive spine surgery reaches the same anatomy through smaller incisions, using tubular retractors, an operating microscope or endoscope, and intraoperative imaging. Because less muscle is detached, patients generally experience less blood loss, less post-operative pain, and a shorter hospital stay. Many procedures are performed on an outpatient basis.
Neither approach is universally better. Candidacy depends on your diagnosis, the number of levels involved, your anatomy, and your surgical history. Our surgeons use minimally invasive techniques wherever they can achieve the same result, and will tell you directly when an open approach is the safer choice for your case.
Conditions These Procedures Treat
Most patients arrive with a diagnosis rather than a procedure in mind. These are the conditions we most often treat surgically, and where to read more about each:
- Herniated disc — commonly treated with microdiscectomy or endoscopic discectomy in the cervical or lumbar spine
- Spinal stenosis — decompression, laminectomy, or the motion-preserving TOPS System
- Spondylolisthesis — decompression with stabilisation, or posterior arthroplasty
- Sciatica and radiculopathy — targeted decompression of the affected nerve root
- Myelopathy — cervical decompression, disc replacement, or fusion depending on the level involved
- Scoliosis and kyphosis — deformity correction
- Compression fractures — vertebral augmentation or stabilisation
- Spinal tumours — intradural tumour resection
How We Decide Which Procedure Is Right for You
Surgery is rarely the first step. Most spine conditions improve with physical therapy, medication, activity modification, or targeted injections, and we will tell you plainly when that is the better path. A surgical consultation does not commit you to an operation.
When conservative care has not worked, the right procedure depends on your diagnosis, which level of the spine is involved, whether nerves or the spinal cord are compressed, your prior surgical history, bone quality, and your own goals for recovery. We review your imaging with you, explain what is causing your symptoms, and walk through the realistic options — including what each one asks of you during recovery.
Where a motion-preserving or minimally invasive approach is appropriate, we favour it. Not every patient is a candidate, and we will say so. See the conditions we treat or request a consultation to get started.
Where We Perform Spine Surgery in New Jersey
Our surgeons hold operating privileges at hospitals and surgical centres across northern New Jersey, including Hackensack Meridian Morristown Medical Center, Overlook Medical Center, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, Hudson Regional Hospital, and Mountainside Medical Center. Where a case is suitable for an outpatient setting, we perform it in an ambulatory surgical centre so you can recover at home the same day.
Consultations and follow-up visits take place at our four offices in Cedar Knolls, Morristown, Bridgewater, and Verona, serving patients across Morris, Somerset, and Essex counties. Find the office nearest you.
Frequently Asked Questions About Spine Surgery
How do I know if I need spine surgery?
Most spine conditions improve without surgery. A surgical consultation is worth booking when pain persists beyond six to twelve weeks of physical therapy and medication, when pain radiates into an arm or leg, or when you notice weakness, numbness, or difficulty walking. Sudden loss of bowel or bladder control needs emergency evaluation. A consultation does not commit you to surgery, and we frequently confirm that non-surgical care remains the right path.
How long is recovery after spine surgery?
Recovery varies widely by procedure, by how many levels are treated, and by your general health. A single-level minimally invasive decompression is very different from a multi-level deformity correction. Rather than quote a general figure, your surgeon will give you a timeline specific to your procedure, including when you can drive, return to work, and resume exercise.
Will I need spinal fusion?
Not necessarily. Fusion is appropriate when the spine is unstable or when instability would result from the decompression needed to relieve your symptoms. For selected patients with lumbar stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis, the FDA-cleared TOPS System offers stabilisation while preserving motion at the treated level. Your surgeon will explain which applies to your anatomy and why.
Do you offer second opinions?
Yes. Many of our patients come to us after being told they need surgery elsewhere, or after surgery that did not resolve their symptoms. Bring your imaging and any operative reports, and we will review them with you. A second opinion sometimes confirms the original plan and sometimes changes it — both are useful outcomes.
Do I need a referral, and what insurance do you accept?
Most PPO plans allow you to schedule directly; most HMO plans require a referral from your primary care physician. We are in-network with most major carriers including Medicare. Because networks change and vary by product, call (973) 206-1477 to confirm your specific plan before your visit.
What should I bring to my first appointment?
Bring your insurance card and photo ID, a list of current medications and supplements, any recent imaging (MRI, CT, or X-ray) on disc or arranged for electronic transfer, and records of any physical therapy or injections you have already tried. That history often determines what we can offer at the first visit rather than the second.