Spinal Surgery Essay

Spinal fusion is categorized into three different categories: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar, in conjunction with the different segments of the spine. Each type of spinal fusion has a different goal depending on the purpose of the surgery. Most surgeries involve fusing vertebrae together to limit its range of motion, thereby hopefully reducing the pain or correcting any physical deformities. Depending on the levels of fusion, spinal fusion surgeries tend to last a few hours. Complications may arise during surgery, and they greatly increase depending the location of the fusion, levels of fusion, and if the surgery crosses any important nerve sites. Levels of spinal fusion are known as the fusion between two different vertebrae. If there is a fusion between L1 and L2, that is known as one level of fusion. If there is another site of fusion at L3 and L4, than there will be two levels of spinal fusion. Lumbar fusion are further complicated when more then one level of performed. By limiting one segment’s range of motion, other segments of the spine will have to compensate and create greater range of motion. With lumbar fusion, most doctors will need to be able to identify why a patient needs lumbar fusion, and being able to identify if lumbar fusion will help alleviate the pain. Most cases of lumbar fusion involve spondylolisthesis, fractures, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, and possibly herniated disk if no other further treatment has proven successful. Most physicians will order an

The good news is that I am done growing, which means I will stop wearing the scoliosis brace. This is a great relief to me, as the brace I wear 16 hours per day, is like a plastic corset, extremely uncomfortable and confining. The bad news is that my spinal curve has increased yet again. Now, at a 43 degree curve, I meet with a pediatric spinal surgeon. The doctor suggests I wait six more months as he monitors my advancing curve closely, and then the consideration of a spinal fusion is the next step. The fusion is a major surgery where they place two titanium rods in the upper thoracic region of my spine and fuse the affected

Endoscopic skull base surgery has very few incisions with the doctor using an endoscope to remove the tumor at the skulls base and/or brain by using the nasal cavity. This procedure provides a more effective removal of the tumor. Laser Interstitial Thermal therapy provides treatment for brain tumor and spine tumors. It is done by a probe being inserted into the tumor and then heating the tumor to extreme temperatures to kill it. Brain tumor such as gliomas and metastases can have this procedure used to treat them. Additionally, it helps reach hard to reach, deep set tumors, or irregularly shaped tumors and if the patient does not respond well to radiation. This procedure has also been used for spinal tumors. This is mostly used when the normal surgery techniques are not available. Furthermore, another type of procedure is the minimally invasive spinal stabilization which is a small (usually one or more half- inch) incision used for the surgery. It helps provide less blood loss as well as lowers infection rate with a shorter hospital stay and faster

Epidural fibrosis after lumbar surgery is a progressive disease associated with radicular pain and unfavorable outcomes. Epidural scar usually developed in response to tissue damage, mainly nucleus pulposus, or hematoma during surgery. 8 After surgery, the lumbar spine progress into degenerative changes, and development of spinal stenosis, central or foraminal, due to facet joint or disc degeneration, or segment instability. 6 Stenosis can also be initiated or exacerbated by epidural adhesions. 9 Acceleration of the degenerative changes in the adjacent segments occurs after fusion. Furthermore, fusion of the lumbar spine into the sacrum may accelerate the development of

Introduction: During the resection of deep-seated brain lesions, there is an associated risk of significant retraction-induced brain injury due to the retractors used. The most common approach is the use of metal blade retractors to displace tissue, which has been shown to cause secondary life-threatening brain injuries such as brain swelling, hemorrhage, and infarction due to the excessive focal pressure on delicate tissue. This paper discusses the validation of a novel tubular retractor sheath which enables radial distribution of forces to minimize retraction-induced injury.

Lumbar spinal stenosis is what occurs when the nerves in the lumbar area of the spine (the lower back) are pinched. Sciatica, which is the common term for pain in the legs due to a compressed nerve, can be caused by lumbar stenosis. It is mostly caused by degeneration of the facet joints, or the joints between vertebrae, in the lumbar area, which expand and press against the spine and “choke” it, hence the term stenosis, which comes from the Greek word for choking.

Lumbar Disc Herniation is one of the commonest problems in adults. At their productive age this problem is debilitating and if timely intervention is not made the outcome is quiet disabling. Lumbar disc herniation in the past have been treated successfully with both conservative and surgical modalities. Various studies in the past have proved both these modalities, conservative and surgical treatment to give a good relief of symptoms.

Herniated discs affect a large portion of the population, so it is easy to see why so many patients are undergoing procedures to place an artificial cervical disc Plano TX. Although invasive, the surgery offers effective pain relief while improving a patient’s mobility after developing a herniated disc. Considering one-thirds of adults 20 years of age and older show signs of a herniated disc, understanding this condition is essential. Using this guide, you will understand the causes, signs, and treatment options for herniated discs.

My doctor then explained that surgery would not only help with the back pain, but it would make my spine straight. Hearing this, I thought that maybe I could be normal again. I thought that I could go back to not worrying about standing up for too long, or worrying if I would have to be excused from class because my back was giving me too much trouble to handle. My parents and I decided that surgery would be the best option at this

The spine has three primary functions: stability, protection of essential internal organs and nerves, and range of motion. Without the spine humans would not be able to carry out many everyday functions such as standing up straight, bending over, twisting in different directions, or even walking. In addition, important components, such as the spinal cord, would go unprotected. The spine is literally the backbone for the make-up of our bodies.

Spinal immobilisation is intended to limit movement in an attempt to avoid making an injury worse (Johnson et al., 2016). A Cochrane systematic review of spinal immobilisation literature was conducted to investigate the effect of spinal immobilisation procedures (Johnson et al., 2016; Dixon et al., 2015; Kwan, Bunn & Roberts, 2009). The review found that the effect of immobilisation of spinal injuries was uncertain and also that no randomised controlled trials of spinal immobilisation procedures on trauma patients had been conducted (Dixon et al., 2015; Johnson et al., 2016). Two important methods of spinal immobilisation are through manual stabilisation or through the use of equipment that restricts movement. A few examples of immobilisation

Theres always alternative treatment for any type of injury. Alterntives inlcudes like NASIDs and muscle relaxnts to control the pain. Some doctors may recommend physical therapy to improve balance, maintain flexibility on the spine etc. If nothing works then the doctor would recommand surgery like Laminectomy which removes the back part thats affecting the vertebra. Laminotomy which removes lamina.

Spine surgery can be performed for a number of problems. The most common problem treated by the spine surgery is the back pain that impairs their day-to-day

After examination by X-ray, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the patient was diagnosed as cervical radiculopathy, and received surgical treatment of the minimally invasive posterior cervical “key-hole” laminoforaminotomy decompression. MRI of the cervical vertebra indicated that the extruded C5-6 disc had been cleared after operation and the nerve roots were free from obvious oppression (Fig. 1).

The factors which contributes to the development of headache after lumbar puncture are following: 1) the size of the dural tear is directly proportional to the amount of CSF leakage. A smaller needle diameter produces a smaller dural tear that results in less cerebrospinal fluid leakage and the incidence of headache after lumbar puncture is less. The incidence of spinal headache is 70% with 16G and 19G spinal needle, 40% with 20G and 22G needle and 12% if 24G and 27G needles are used .(18)(19) 2) Because the collagen fibers in the dura mater run in a longitudinal route, parallel to the long or vertical axis of the spine, the occurrence of headache after lumbar puncture is much less if the needle is inserted with the bevel parallel to the