Lumbar fusion surgery is considered as the best treatment for stopping
the motion at a painful vertebral segment. It decreases the pain which
generates from the joint. Although surgery is considered the last resort for
treating the pain triggering from the spinal area, it improves the condition of
those who fail to experience relief from other treatments. There are different approaches for spinal
fusion surgery, and each of them involves the following procedures.
·
Bony fusion – In it, one fixed bone replaces a mobile
joint, stopping the motion at that particular joint segment
·
Setting up a biological response which leads to the
bone graft growing between the two vertebral elements for creating a bone
fusion
·
Addition of bone graft to a spinal segment
If excessive or abnormal motion of the vertebral segment causes inability to function or severe pain then you might be
recommended spinal fusion surgery.
·
Lumbar spondylolisthesis (postlaminectomy
spondylolisthesis, degenerative, isthmic)
·
Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease
Other conditions which can be treated with this kind of surgery include
a deformity, fractures, and an unstable or weak spine which is caused by
tumors or infections or scoliosis.
As observed in most of the cases, be it degenerative or osteoarthritis
of the spine, these symptoms are rarely noticeable. As a matter of fact, symptoms rarely
progress, and thus it is only in extreme cases that the surgery is needed for
painful spinal joints.
Orthopedic surgeon or healthcare professional examines the patient with
great care before prescribing the treatment. It is often that they began with
medicines, lifestyle changes, exercise and yoga. Only when a patient fails to
show any kind of improvement that they recommend surgery. Surgery is required only for those patients
who have severe medical conditions of spinal osteoarthritis that can also lead
to nerve root pinching (spinal stenosis) or instability of the joint
(degenerative spondylolisthesis). Sometimes,
patients experience both conditions simultaneously. Unstable joints get bigger
with passing time, causing stenosis of the spinal canal.
Spinal
fusion surgery for treating osteoarthritis
Patients who are having extreme condition because of spinal arthritis,
the last and the most effective treatment is spinal fusion surgery. It stops
the motion in the affected joint. Spinal fusion surgery is also known as
“arthrodesis”.
At present, artificial discs or total disc replacement surgery is
contraindicated in those patients who are suffering from osteoarthritis of the
facet joint because artificial
discs helps in maintaining motion through
painful degenerated facet joints. Artificial disc surgery is meant for only
those individuals who have degenerative disc disease without facet joint
pathology. Also, it should be considered as an experimental process at this
point of time.
It is motion in joint leads to pain, the objective
of a fusion surgery is to stop the motion, and thus stop the pain. However,
spinal fusion surgery is not recommended for treating osteoarthritis of the
spine as the arthritic condition affects several vertebral levels in the spine,
and thus multi-level fusions are not advised. Spinalosteoarthritis
