Spinal Fusion
I would be very, very hesitant, and most surgeons would be very, very hesitant to tell patients that after fusion they would be pain-free - Tony Delitto
image by: Mississippi Sports Medicine
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Needless treatments: spinal fusion surgery for lower back pain is costly and there’s little evidence it’ll work
There is little high-quality evidence to support the use of spinal fusion for most back-related conditions, including spinal stenosis. And there is disagreement between surgeons on when spinal fusion surgery should be performed, not only for back pain but also for more acute conditions such as tumours and spine fractures.
There have also been no studies comparing spinal fusion to a placebo procedure. Most research to date compares one fusion technique to another technique or to a form of non-surgical treatment, so we still don’t know whether spine fusion is effective against placebo. We also know that spine fusion surgery is expensive and associated with more complications than decompression…
Resources
Spinal Fusion for Chronic Low Back Pain: A ‘Magic Bullet’ or Wishful Thinking?
Chronic low back pain is a common, disabling and costly health problem. The treatment of chronic low back is difficult and is often ineffective. For treatment to be effective the cause of the pain has to be established but unfortunately in 80% to 95% of the patients the cause cannot be determined despite the existence of modern imaging techniques.
How Tiger Woods Won the Back Surgery Lottery
Few would have predicted that Tiger Woods would be playing in the P.G.A. Championship this week. He had three failed back surgeries, starting in 2014. He had taken opioids. His astonishing career seemed over. Then he had one more operation, a spinal fusion, the most complex of all, in 2017. And last month he won the Masters, playing the way he used to.
Keeping Patients Awake During Spine Surgery is Cutting Recovery Time in Half
A traditional spinal fusion surgery with general anesthesia takes about four hours and requires a hospital stay of three to four days as well as IV painkillers. The awake spine surgery takes half the time and typically has patients out of the hospital within 24 hours.
Spinal fusion surgery: A historical perspective
The vast majority of technological advances in spinal fusion surgery have occurred within the past 50 years. Despite this, there existed a rich history of innovation, ingenuity, and resourcefulness among the spine surgeons of centuries before. Here, we pay tribute to this history, highlighting the important characters, their devices, and their thoughts, as they sought to alleviate human suffering from spinal deformity.
Why You Should Never Get Fusion Surgery For Plain Back Pain
A recent Bloomberg article should put the fear of God in anyone who wants to get a fusion operation for low back pain blamed on worn-out spinal discs. I've written about the lack of evidence behind surgery for pain for years. This is one of the best indictments of this highly controversial and lucrative operation that has been growing like wildfire, despite multiple studies that say it is no better than a good physical therapy and exercise program--and a lot more dangerous.
Back-Pain Sufferers See Relief With New Spinal-Fusion Surgery
One concern is that long-term results of the endoscopic procedure aren't available, although surgeons say it stands to reason that patients undergoing endoscopic fusion will fare better than those having the more traumatic spinal surgery.
Carson Daly Says He’s Getting ‘Stronger and Stronger’ After Intense Spinal Surgery
The recovery for spinal fusion surgeries is usually intense, as it can take several months for the affected bones in the spine to heal and fuse together. Physical therapy can help people relearn to safely move around, sit, stand, and walk after a spinal fusion surgery; during the recovery process, people sometimes wear a brace to keep the spine aligned correctly.
Surgery for chronic back pain 'not the best option'
An operation to fuse a portion of the lower spine, which has been carried out for 90 years, might not be the best option for people with persistent and debilitating back pain - and is far more expensive than alternatives, researchers say today. Up to 85% of the population suffers back pain at some point in their lives, and 10% have chronic back pain which interferes with their lives and has always been hard for doctors to cure.
Needless treatments: spinal fusion surgery for lower back pain is costly and there’s little evidence it’ll work
There is little high-quality evidence to support the use of spinal fusion for most back-related conditions, including spinal stenosis. And there is disagreement between surgeons on when spinal fusion surgery should be performed, not only for back pain but also for more acute conditions such as tumours and spine fractures.
KnowYourBack.org
Fusion is a surgical technique in which one or more of the vertebrae of the spine are united together (“fused”) so that motion no longer occurs between them. The concept of fusion is similar to that of welding in industry. Spinal fusion surgery, however, does not weld the vertebrae immediately during surgery. Rather, bone grafts are placed around the spine during surgery. The body then heals the grafts over several months – similar to healing a fracture – which joins, or “welds,” the vertebrae together.
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