Spinal & Cervical Fusion Surgery |
Fusion surgery is indicated for patients who have deformities and instability. It’s a common operation for back pain, too.
Dr. Georgiy Brosuvanik, Spine Surgeon with Baptist Health South Florida, says the recovery for this surgery is good. He expects his patients to walk immediately, because there is no muscle injury and patients have pain relief immediately after surgery.
Even though it is a reward surgery, the specialist considers the real goal is to try to avoid it.
Transcript
THAT WORD “FUSION”, THAT IT IS A PROCEDURE THAT CAN BE PERFORMED. > IMAGINE THE DISCS ARE DEGENERATED BEYOND REPAIR AND THAT HAS RESULTED IN A DEFORMITY OF THE SPINE. THE SURGEON WILL REPLACE THE REMAINDER OF THE DISCS WITH A PIECE OF PLASTIC THAT WILL RETURN THE SPINE TO ITS ORIGINAL SHAPE. THEN WE HAVE TO HOLD IT IN PLACE. IT IS INDICATED FOR PATIENTS WITH DEFORMITY AND INSTABILITY. UNFORTUNATELY, UNLIKE THE OTHER INDICATIONS, WHEN THIS OPERATION IS DONE FOR BACK PAIN ONLY THERESULTS ARE NOT AS RELIABLE. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHERE MOTION PRESERVATION DOES NOT WORK, WHERE THE DEFORMITY IS SO SEVERE THAT YOU CANNOT JUST REMOVE COMPRESSION AND SNEAK OUT. YOU HAVE TO RETURN THE SPINE TO ITS NORMAL SHAPE. THAT IS WHERE FUSION IS INDICATED. > HOW IS THE RECOVERY?. > WITH THE NEWER TECHNIQUES, THE RECOVERY IS NOT BAD. I EXPECT PATIENCE TO BE WALKING IMMEDIATELY. THERE IS NO PHYSICAL THERAPY AFTER THESE NEW OPERATIONS AND PATIENTS HAVE RELIEF IMMEDIATELY AFTER SURGERY. THE GOAL IS FIRST AND FOREMOST TO TRY TO AVOID SURGERY, WHEN PATIENTS HAVE TRIED THERAPY, THEN IS RESONABLE DISCUSS FIXIN THE PROBLEM.
