Spinal cord compression: Will advanced treatment lead to the market for spinal cord compression?

Published On: March 2018

Spinal cord compression Overview:

Now a days, the prevalence of spinal stenosis is rising due to increasing cases of arthritis, congenital spinal defects, instability of the spine, and slip-disc. These defects may manifest due to spondylitis, trauma, and tumors. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 23% of low back pain affects patients over 65 years of age.

Spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that carries messages back and forth from the brain to muscles and other soft tissues and is protected by a stack of backbones called vertebrae. Spinal cord compression is a condition that puts pressure on the spinal cord. It occurs when a mass places pressure on the cord. This mass can be a tumor or a bone fragment. Compression can develop anywhere along the spinal cord from the neck to the lower spine.

The spinal cord compression market has been on the rise over the past few years. Based on the MRFR analysis, the global market for spinal cord compression-spinal stenosis is expected to reach USD 13,777.79 million by 2023 from USD 7,683.74 million in 2016, at a CAGR of 8.70% from 2017 to 2023. Minimally invasive spine surgery is another development which reduces the hospital stay and pain associated with the surgical procedure due to lesser trauma is likely to boost the spinal cord compression market in the coming future.

What would be the market trends in spinal cord compression market?

Spinal stenosis is a major cause of spinal cord compression. Most of the traditionally effective surgical modalities for the treatment of the disease are inclusive of laminectomy, laminotomy, foraminotomy, and others. In recent years, due to increased risks of bleeding, infection, besides others, alternative treatments were being devised. The answer for the same was the application of the minimally invasive procedures with the application of various spinal cord decompression devices. As a result, the market witnessed the huge acceptance of such products, including from Medtronic’s MAST MIDLF to Vertos Medical Inc.’s mild devices.

Minimally invasive spine surgery is performed by making small incisions with the assistance of a microscope, endoscope, tiny camera, and miniature surgical instruments. As the success of minimally invasive spine surgery is highly dependent on the skill of the surgeons, scarcity of skilled surgeons is restraining the global spinal cord compression-spinal stenosis market.

Where are the market‘s demand and supply heading it to?

Nearly, 70% of healthcare is financed by private insurance companies and government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Demand and supply gap for spinal cord compression is found to be low due to the availability of various types of surgical as well as non-surgical treatment devices for specific purposes and the high number of prominent manufacturers of these products. Additionally, the increasing geriatric population with chronic conditions across the globe and increasing life expectancy substantiates a sustained long-term demand and need for medical devices for the early diagnosis of the disease has highly influenced the demand for spinal cord compression related products in the market. Buyers or end user of spinal cord compression products include hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and rehabilitation centers, and others.

Globally, there is a rise in the number of patients with spinal stenosis due to wrong body posture and inappropriate nutritional habits. There is a rise in a number of cases with spinal cord compression, but the increase in the number of healthcare professionals is found to be low. Hence, demand for non-surgical treatment like physical therapies, drugs is found to be higher than the supply of trained and qualified physicians or healthcare professionals. This demand-supply gap can be filled by providing training to physicians for using technological advance devices and cost-effective instruments and consumables.

What factors are hampering the growth of the market?

Lack of skilled physicians to deal with spinal decompression devices has also hindered the growth of the market. Additionally, there is a high therapeutic surgery cost and risk of complications that has restrained the growth of the market. For instance, according to the International Journal of Spine Surgery, the total cost for cervical laminoplasty (CLP) was estimated around USD 17,334 in 2013.

Then, what’s the future?

It is observed that the demand for better treatment is high from the developing nations of Asia Pacific such as India, China, and other owing rapidly changing healthcare sector, large geriatric population, and the presence of huge opportunities for the development of this market. Additionally, increasing research & development, and developing healthcare infrastructure has also driven the Asia Pacific spinal cord compression market.