Interspinous Spacers

An interspinous spacer is a device that is inserted into the back of the spine, between the spinous processes. The device is used to treat spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis occurs when the passageways of the spine are narrow and compress the nerves of the spine. The spinous processes are the part of the vertebra that stick out and form small bumps in the middle of your back. The spacer is placed between the spinous processes and gently opened. By opening the spacer, it functions similar to a car jack. It separates the spinous processes and thereby opens up compressed passageways in the vertebra. This frees up the nerves of the spine from compression. Examples of this procedure are Vertiflex by Boston Scientific and The Minuteman Procedure by Spinal Simplicity.