What is Spinal Fusion Surgery?

Spinal fusion surgery is a type of surgery which helps cure chronic back pain. In this type of surgery one or two of the vertebrae of the patient’s spine are fused together so that there can be no kind of motion between them. In the surgery immediate fusion does not take place, instead bone grafts are placed all around the spine and as time passes, the bone heals the grafts and joins the vertebrae together.

When is it recommended?

Spinal fusion surgery might be required for many different cases. Your doctor might recommend it when you have a fractured vertebra, a deformity which has to be corrected, treating back pain from painful motion, treating instability or for the treatment of cervical disc herniation. Though most vertebral fractures don't need surgery and can heal on their own when they are kept in a fixed position. But in severe cases of fracture the spinal fusion surgery might be required.

Procedure

Various kind of approaches are available in which the spinal fusion surgery can be performed, all of which involve the use of bone grafts. The spine is reached and the bone grafts are either placed from the posterior or anterior side of the affected vertebrae. Sometimes a combination of both the anterior and posterior grafts is required. The main goal is to obtain a solid union between vertebrae to eliminate any kind of motion between them. For some cases instrumentation are also needed, such as screws, cages, plates etc. This is mainly used to correct some sort of deformity.

Recovery

The patient has a very uncomfortable period of time after the spinal fusion surgery. Oral pain medications and also intravenous injections need to be given to ease out the patient. The recovery period for spinal fusion surgery is quite longer than the other types of spinal surgeries as the fusion itself takes a lot of time.