Everything You Need To Know About Spine Fusion Surgery Treatment

How does spine fusion work?

During the spine fusion surgery, your doctor will try to stimulate bone growth between the vertebrae. Once a new bone is formed, the vertebrae will be linked together, and there have to be no further movements between the fused segments. 

Your surgeon may also recommend spinal instrumentation as a part of the process to perform a spine fusion. Your surgeon will place a metal within your spine in order to hold the vertebral bones together. Spine instrumentation can be of different types. Your surgeon will tell you about a particular type of instrumentation depending on different factors such as your age, the underlying problems which are being treated, the number of levels of the spine being fused, etc.

Problems involved with spine fusion surgery

There are many concerns with spine fusion surgery, but the overall procedure works very well for most patients. The common concerns of the surgery are:

The segments do not fuse- The most difficult part of this surgery is that it is hard to make the new bone growth. There are different ways in which you can stimulate new bone growth, but there are drawbacks too. Bone growth can happen using extra bone from the pelvis, or using bone chips from a donor, or using a manufactured bone substitute.

The vertebrae and discs next to the spine fusion develop problems- This can happen after many years of the surgery. When the bad segments of the spine are joined together, the segment next to the fusion has more forces applied. This degeneration can create problems after the spine fusion. This is the main reason why spinal disc replacement is being done.

What will happen after the knee replacement surgery?

You will have to stay in the hospital after your knee replacement surgery for around three to five days on an average. The people who go in for a knee joint replacement surgery have a lot of improvement. This improvement takes place within one month of the surgery. The pain which is caused by the damaged joint becomes less after the construction of the new gliding surface.

After undergoing knee joint replacement surgery, many people stand and move a day after the surgery. Initially, you may have to walk using parallel bars, and then you may have to use a walking device such as a walker, crutches, or a cane. You will have to use these devices till your full body weight can be supported by the knee. After six weeks, many people work comfortably without any assistance. Your muscle strength will have to be restored with physical therapy, and then you can enjoy most of the activities except jumping and running.

Knowing the other risks of spine fusion surgery

The other risks can be infection and blood loss. These complications depend on the extent of the surgery being performed. You need to discuss all these problems with your doctor. 

The other complications can be damage to the spinal cord or the nerves which exit the cord. These risks too will differ depending on the type of surgery that was performed. In the majority of patients, improvements are seen after the surgery, but there are certain risks too.

What about smoking and spine fusion?

If you are a smoker and you have spine fusion, then you have to stop smoking. The lack of new bone forming goes up to 500% in smokers, so there will be a spine fusion failure.