Endoscopic Spine Surgery in Covina

If you live in Covina and have been told you may need back or neck surgery, the words "same-day discharge" probably sound too good to be true. For the right patient, with the right anatomy, they are not. Endoscopic spine surgery is the most minimally invasive way to treat many of the same conditions that used to require open back surgery — and Dr. Kambiz Hannani performs the majority of these procedures at Emanate Health Inter-Community Hospital, right in the heart of Covina. That means a 5 to 10 minute drive from your house, surgery through an incision smaller than a fingernail, and most patients sleeping in their own bed in Covina that same night.

Dr. Hannani's office in West Covina sits about three miles west of downtown Covina — a quick run on Garvey, Badillo, or Citrus Avenue. His primary surgical home being right inside the city you live in is not a small thing when you are weighing a spine procedure. It means the OR team taking care of you is a team Dr. Hannani works with regularly, your family does not have to fight LA traffic to visit, and you are home before dinner instead of trying to get released from a downtown hospital at midnight.

For the right Covina patient, an endoscopic approach means going home the same day, off heavy pain medication within days, and back to a desk job within a week or two — without ever leaving the San Gabriel Valley.

What is Endoscopic Spine Surgery?

Endoscopic spine surgery is a category of ultra-minimally invasive procedures that use a thin tube (endoscope) with a camera and light source to access the spine through a single small puncture — typically 7 to 10 millimeters wide, about the size of a pencil eraser. The surgeon watches the procedure on a high-definition monitor and uses specialized micro-instruments passed through the same tube to do the actual work.

Compared with traditional open spine surgery (which uses a 4 to 6 inch incision and dissects through layers of muscle) or even microsurgery (which uses an operating microscope and a 1 to 2 inch incision), endoscopic surgery causes dramatically less tissue damage. Less tissue damage means less pain after surgery, less blood loss, lower infection risk, and a much faster recovery.

Common Endoscopic Procedures

Not every spine procedure can be done endoscopically — but the list of what can is growing every year. The most common endoscopic procedures Dr. Hannani performs include:

• Endoscopic discectomy — removal of a herniated disc fragment compressing a nerve, in the lumbar (low back) or cervical (neck) spine

• Endoscopic foraminotomy — opening up the bony tunnel where a nerve exits the spine, relieving pinched-nerve pain

• Endoscopic laminotomy / decompression — relieving spinal canal narrowing (stenosis) without a large open laminectomy

• Endoscopic rhizotomy — targeted treatment of facet joint nerves causing chronic back pain

Why Patients in Covina Choose Dr. Hannani for Endoscopic Spine Surgery

Endoscopic spine surgery requires specialized training and experience that many spine surgeons in Los Angeles County simply do not have — most still default to traditional open or microsurgical techniques even when an endoscopic approach would work. Dr. Hannani has performed minimally invasive spine procedures for over two decades and offers the full endoscopic spectrum from his West Covina practice. For Covina residents, the practical advantage is hard to overstate: you do not have to drive into Beverly Hills, Cedars-Sinai, or downtown LA to find a surgeon doing this caliber of minimally invasive work. The same surgeon, the same techniques, the same outcomes — five minutes from your driveway, at the hospital you already know.

Multi-generational Covina families come back to us because Dr. Hannani has cared for parents, in-laws, and adult children over the years. When the surgeon, the hospital, and the post-op recovery all happen in your own community, recovery is genuinely easier — your spouse can drop off lunch, your daughter can drive you to the follow-up visit, and your physical therapist down the street already knows the surgeon.

Endoscopic vs. Open vs. Microsurgery: A Real Comparison

A patient with a typical lumbar herniated disc has three reasonable surgical options. Here is the practical difference:

• Open discectomy — 3 to 4 inch incision, muscle dissection, often a hospital stay, 4 to 6 weeks before desk work, 8 to 12 weeks before heavy activity. Largely outdated for routine herniated discs.

• Microdiscectomy — 1 inch incision, less muscle damage, usually outpatient, 1 to 2 weeks before desk work, 4 to 6 weeks before heavy activity. The most common modern option.

• Endoscopic discectomy — 8 millimeter incision, almost no muscle damage, outpatient with same-day discharge, often back to desk work within a week, 3 to 4 weeks before heavy activity. The least invasive option.

For a single-level herniated disc in a healthy patient, the endoscopic approach gives outcomes equivalent to microdiscectomy with meaningfully faster recovery. For more complex spinal problems — multi-level stenosis, instability, prior failed surgery — open or fusion surgery may still be the right answer.

Getting to Our Office from Covina

Our West Covina office is about 3 miles from downtown Covina — a 5 to 10 minute drive on local streets like Garvey Avenue, Badillo Street, or Citrus Avenue. The 10 and 210 freeways are also options. Free patient parking is right at the building, with a short level walk to the entrance — easy when you are dealing with sciatica or radiating arm pain. On surgery day, the trip from your home in Covina to Emanate Health is even shorter.

A Covina Patient Story

A 47-year-old contractor and longtime Covina resident came in unable to stand straight after lifting a tile pallet on a job. MRI showed a large L5-S1 disc herniation pressing on the right S1 nerve, with shooting pain down the back of his right leg and a partial loss of strength in his calf. Six weeks of physical therapy and an epidural injection had not helped. He underwent an outpatient endoscopic discectomy at Emanate Health in Covina. The procedure took about an hour. He walked out the same afternoon, was off narcotic pain medication within three days, and was back to estimating jobs from his truck within a week. He returned to full physical labor at six weeks. The incision is still hard to find on his low back.

Who is a Candidate for Endoscopic Spine Surgery?

The best candidates generally have:

• A clearly defined, single-level problem (one herniated disc, one pinched nerve, one stenotic level)

• Imaging that matches the symptoms — leg pain in the L5 distribution with an L4-L5 disc herniation, for example

• Failed at least 6 weeks of conservative care (physical therapy, medications, often an injection)

• No significant spinal instability or major deformity

• No history of major prior surgery at the same level (this can sometimes still be done — case-by-case)

Patients who are not endoscopic candidates are not stuck — Dr. Hannani offers the full range of spine procedures, from microdiscectomy and decompression to artificial disc replacement and fusion. The right operation is the one matched to your specific problem.

What Recovery Looks Like

For a typical endoscopic lumbar discectomy at Emanate Health in Covina:

• Day of surgery: 30 to 60 minute procedure under sedation or light general anesthesia. Walking within an hour. Discharged home the same day — most Covina patients are back in their own bed by evening.

• Days 1-3: Mild soreness around the small incision. Most patients off narcotics within 48 to 72 hours.

• Week 1-2: Most patients return to a desk job. Driving usually permitted within a week (off narcotics).

• Weeks 3-4: Light exercise, walking, gradual return to normal activity.

• Weeks 6-12: Return to heavy lifting, sports, and physically demanding work.

Risks of Endoscopic Spine Surgery

No spine surgery is without risk. Endoscopic procedures share the same general risks as any spine surgery — infection, bleeding, nerve injury, dural tear (small leak of spinal fluid), and the possibility that symptoms do not fully resolve. The endoscopic technique generally has lower rates of these complications than open surgery because of the smaller working corridor and reduced tissue damage. The most common technical limitation is that some pathology turns out, intraoperatively, to need a slightly larger approach — Dr. Hannani will discuss this possibility honestly during your consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions from Covina Patients

Where do you perform surgery? The vast majority of Dr. Hannani's procedures are performed at Emanate Health Inter-Community Hospital, right in Covina. Select outpatient cases may be done at nearby surgery centers in the San Gabriel Valley. You will not be sent into downtown LA on surgery day.

How quickly can I get an appointment if I live in Covina? New patient consultations are typically available within 1 to 2 weeks. Urgent cases — significant weakness, loss of bowel or bladder control, severe escalating leg or arm pain — are seen sooner, often within 24 to 48 hours. Call 626-939-5900 and tell our front desk you are local.

Do you take Covina-area insurance plans and Medi-Cal? We accept most major commercial insurance plans used in the Covina area, including PPO and many HMO products, plus Medicare. Medi-Cal participation depends on your specific managed care plan — call our office and we will verify on your behalf before your visit. Endoscopic surgery itself is covered by most major plans when medical necessity is documented.

Will I really go home the same day? Yes — for the vast majority of single-level endoscopic procedures, patients are discharged home from Emanate Health the same afternoon, usually within a few hours of surgery. Arrange for a family member or friend to drive you home; your house in Covina is only minutes away.

How do I schedule a consultation? Call our office at 626-939-5900 or visit our contact page. Bring any prior MRI imaging on disc if you have it — this lets Dr. Hannani assess whether you are an endoscopic candidate at the first visit.