Lumbar Spine Surgery: inter1body Fusion
Background:
Arthritis and degenerative disk disease resulting in low back
pain are the leading causes of loss of work in the United States at this time.
Between 60 and 80 percent of the population is affected by significant low-back
pain at some time.
The cause of
back pain is a complex phenomenon. Back pain has many possible etiologies,
including muscular, degenerative, arthritic and neurogenic causes. When the
cause of back pain has been localized to degenerative disk disease or "discogenic"
pain, and conservative therapy has failed, fusion of the spine may be the
treatment of choice.
The object of a
spine fusion is to stabilize or eliminate the movement across a motion segment
or a series of motion segments that have degenerated to the point of causing
pain. The concept of spine fusion has evolved over the years. Spine fusions
involves the production of a solid bony fusion across a motion segment either
with bone graft alone or bone graft along with some type of instrumentation.
This technique is call inter1body fusion.
A new option for those patients who may not be candidates for
conventional spinal fusion or pedicle screws is the inter1vertebral cage fusion
(See Picture). This procedure can be very beneficial in patients whose back pain
has been identified as discogenic in nature and who have no significant slippage
of the spinal vertebra.
This approach uses an inter1vertebral cage made of either metal
(packed with bone) or bone alone.
With this placed the body will fuse the two vertebra into one and thereby stop
any movement. The metal cage is a hollow, threaded titanium cylinder with
multiple openings in the wall for bone fusion. Typically, the cage is packed
with bone graft that will ultimately fuse with the vertebrae above and below.
These cages are placed after the degenerated disk is removed. The bone then
grows through the openings in the cage to create a solid bony fusion. In recent
clinical studies, a successful fusion rate of 90 to 92 percent has been
reported. The cage that is made of bone works in a similar fashion.
The advantage to these cages is that the surgery is much less
invasive when compared to traditional lumbar fusion and produces immediate
stability with less disruption of normal tissues.
Patients can be mobilized more quickly, and often experience less pain and
disability in the post –operative period. And they can often return to their
normal activities more quickly. Patients will leave the hospital a day or two
after this type of fusion procedure and a brace should be wore for one to three
months.
The use of inter1vertebral cages for spine fusion is a novel and
exciting development in the area of spine surgery. This is indicated in patients
who have degenerative disk disease characterized by discogenic back pain at one
or two levels in the lumbar spine. Most patients can return to normal activities
in one to three months.
Call
412-630-7640 or 1-877-635-5234 with questions.
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For questions or comments, please contact:
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