about the procedure

One of the main goals of any surgical procedure on the body‘s skeletal system is to stop the painpainAn unpleasant sensation associated with actual or potential tissue damage, and mediated by specific nerve fibe... caused by joints that have worn out over time. Among the most reliable ways to reduce pain from wear and tear is to fuse the jointjointThe junction between the ends of two adjacent bones. together. A fusion is an operation where two bones, usually separated by a joint, are allowed to grow together into one boneboneThe hard tissue that provides structural support to the body. It is primarily composed of hydroxyapatite cryst....

Spinal fusion has been used for many years to treat painful conditions in the spine. Recently, there have been dramatic improvements in the way that spinal fusion operations are performed. One major improvement has been the development of fixation devices.

play video of a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion

play video of an anterior cervical decompression fusion

overview

Spinal fusion is usually performed after a discectomydiscectomyOne of the most common surgical procedures for problems in the cervical spine is an anterior cervical discecto.... The goal of spinal fusion is to stop the motion caused by segmental instabilitysegmental instabilityAbnormal response to applied loads characterized by motion in the motor segment beyond normal constraints.. This reduces the mechanical painmechanical painMechanical pain is often called back strain because is linked with the movement, or "the mechanics" of the spi... caused from excess motion in the spinal segment.

In this procedure, the surgeon fills the space left after the disc separating two vertebraevertebraeThe individual bones of the spine are the vertebrae. These are the building blocks of the spinal column. The v... is removed with a block of bone called a bone graftbone graftA basic component of any spinal fusion is the bone graft. Bone grafting is used for many types of orthopedic p.... The healing of a fusion is no different than healing a fractured bone, such as a broken arm.

types of bone graft

Two types of bone are used in bone graft procedures: autograftautograftBone taken from your own body is called autograft., which is bone taken from the patient‘s own body; and allograftallograftBone graft taken from someone else is called allograft. Allograft is usually removed from organ donors and pla..., which is bone that comes from a bone bank. The most common approach is to use the patient‘s own bone whenever possible. Sometimes the surgeon may mix allograftallograftBone graft taken from someone else is called allograft. with autograft.

Allograft is very useful when an operation requires more bone graft than the patient‘s own body can supply. Some major spine fusions need a lot of bone graft. Some surgeries need large pieces of structural bone graft, which may cause problems in the area of the body where the bone was removed.