Spine Surgery
There are many causes that require the need for
spine surgery, and therefore there are a myriad of different types of
spine surgery. It all depends, of course, on the damage found along the spine, and the reasons for the damage.
For example
spine surgery may be indicated when different conditions are found. These range from spondylolisthesis, which is defined to be the forward slippage of bony segments forming the spine, kyphosis, which is found to be a specific back deformity confirmed by a humpback appearance, or scoliosis, which in essence is a curvature appearance of the spine.
Also there is spinal stenosis, which is a condition that is caused by the narrowing of the spinal cord. This leads to nerve pinching which causes persistent pain in the buttocks, a very painful limping gait, a certain lack of feeling in the body’s lower extremities, and finally
decreased physical activity due to the stenosis.
Spine surgery involves a plethora of different procedures for different problems:
Diskectomy. This involves the actual removal of the herniated portion of the disk. It is done to relieve pressure on specific nerves. It's performed as what’s referred to as an open surgery, meaning that the surgeon will access the spine by cutting the skin, and other tissues. Diskectomy in general involves the full or even partial removal of the rear segment of the vertebra, which is called the lamina, in order to access the desired ruptured disk.
Laminectomy. This specific procedure involves the deduction, or taking away, of the lamina which overlays the spinal canal. By doing so, the spinal canal will be enlarged. This is of course often performed in order to relieve nerve pressure occasioned by spinal stenosis.
Fusion. Spinal fusion will permanently connect two or more spinal bones. It will relieve back pain by giving stability to spinal fractures or when the surgeon has ascertained that there is excessive motion between vertebrae. It may also be used to eliminate painful movement between vertebrae that has been caused by a degenerated or injured disk.
Vertebroplasty. Using this particular procedure, the surgeon will inject bone cement directly into compressed vertebrae. This will, of course, stabilize fractures that will in turn relieve back pain.
Intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET). In this procedure, the surgeon inserts a needle via a catheter directly into the disk. Then heat is applied to the needle to a very high temperature for approximately 20 minutes. The heat serves to thicken and seal the disk wall, thereby reducing the disk bulge as well as the associated spinal nerve irritation.
Artificial disks. Sometimes the surgeon may decide to implant artificial disks as an alternative treatment to spinal fusion when there is too much movement between vertebrae because of either an injured disk or a degenerated disk. Artificial disks are a new invention thus they are being studied carefully for rejection and other problems associated with artificial insertions into the body.
A person should never enter into any spine surgery without seeing other surgeons that specialize in the delicate surgery on the spine. Surgeons who perform specialized spinal procedures will also be able to advise you about
minimally invasive surgery for herniated cervical and lumbar discs.
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