Spine Surgery – Is it Safe?

By Matt Murren

The main reason for spine surgery or neck surgery is to correct an anatomical lesion in individuals who fail to show improvement with conservative treatment like icing, massage, physical therapy or anti-inflammatory drugs. If you have pain without the presence of an anatomical lesion, spine surgery is not an option for you. If you are a patient who has the need to change your anatomy, like repairing a herniated disc, then spine surgery is something that you should look into.

How safe is spine surgery? With the spine being in as delicate of a position as it is, the chance for mistakes runs high. While most minor procedure spine surgeries are successful, the more intense procedures run a much higher risk. In July of 2004, The Burton Report, published by Lippincott stated that “The world of spinal medicine, unfortunately, is producing patients with failed back surgery syndrome at an alarming rate” (Vol. 12, No. 7, pp.79). Some of the reported problems that patients have faced after their spine surgeries include; lateral spine stenosis, central stenosis (including fusion over growth) and recurrent or persistent disc herniation.

Minimally invasive spine surgery is being performed more often than in the past. Conventional spine surgery requires a long incision and a lengthy, difficult recovery period. However, with a minimally invasive surgery, or “keyhole” surgery, a thin telescope-like instrument, called an endoscope is inserted into a much smaller incision. The endoscope is connected to camera that is smaller than the size of dime which provides a close up view, projected onto a television screen for the physician to have a better look at your spine. The incisions are sutured up quickly, allowing a faster and easier recovery time. While keyhole surgery is not for major spinal procedures, a patient is a prime candidate for this minimally invasive surgery if he or she has been diagnosed with scoliosis, herniated disks or if you require spinal fusion caused by degenerative disks.

The main reason for spine surgery or neck surgery is to correct an anatomical lesion in individuals who fail to show improvement with conservative treatment like icing, massage, physical therapy or anti-inflammatory drugs. If you have pain without the presence of an anatomical lesion, spine surgery is not an option for you. If you are a patient who has the need to change your anatomy, like repairing a herniated disc, then spine surgery is something that you should look into.

Matt D Murren owns and operates http://www.spine-surgery-advisor.com
Spine Surgery

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Is Back Surgery Considered To Be The Last Resort For Back Pain Patients?

At Axiom Worldwide, they created the DRX9000™ to assist healthcare providers in their effort to treat back pain conditions. With treatment on the DRX9000™, your patients can non-surgically achieve relief from their debilitating back problems. By combining technology and science, physicians can utilize the DRX9000™ to offer patients an alternative to surgery.

Unfortunately, not all chronic back pain patients will be candidates for the Decompression therapy. In fact it may be possible that several (non-eligible) DRX9000 patients will have to proceed with their next treatment alternative, considered by many to be back surgery. While spine surgery techniques have been around for many years, they are constantly evolving and changing.

Traditional Forms Of Spine Surgery

Having existed for over 30 years and considered to be the standard, is the laminectomy. The laminectomy may be described as the removal of the exterior portion of the bone that is surrounding the nervous tissue inside the spinal canal.

Fusion surgery focuses on stabilizing vertebraes which are unsound because of a degenerative disk or depleted facet joint.

A microdiscectomy is described as microsurgery which utilizes a microscope in order to maintain a small incision site.

A foramenotomy may be performed in order to produce a passageway for the spinal nerves from spinal stenosis. The openings will allow the spinal nerves breathing space.

While our products strive to provide all back pain patients with a non-surgical treatment alternative, we do understand that our products may not be able to help everyone in several cases. If you are currently facing back surgery and would like to learn if you are a candidate for the DRX9000 treatment, simply contact your nearest DRX9000 physician today.

This information is not intended nor should be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Consult your physician before considering any medical treatment method available to you.

Neurology And Neurological Disorders Treatment Atlanta And Emory Neurologists

The central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), the peripheral nervous system, and the autonomic nervous system are at the root of disorders ranging from Movement disorders like Parkinson’s to more psychological disorders like Alzheimer’s, and must be treated by neurologists or neurosurgeons.
Atlanta Neurosurgery
The Emory Neurology Surgery team treats with conditions affecting the brain, spine, and nerves, and is top amongst the nation’s leading departments for neurosurgical patient care, teaching, and research. Emory is unique when compared to other neurosurgery centers because Emory is top amongst the regional leaders regarding the number of brain aneurysms and vascular malformations of the brain and spinal cord it treats yearly. In addition Emory has the only neurocritical care unit for critically ill patients with cerebrovascular disorders.
Parkinson’s Treatment Emory
Movement disorders are conditions treated by neurosurgeons and are caused by problems in the brain that icauses problems with a person’s ability to move. These can cause either too much movement or too little movement.
One of the most often occuring movement disorders results from Parkinson’s Disease. The Emory Movement Disorder clinic assists those who suffer from this debilitating disease but also work with those who suffer from dystonia, essential tremor, Huntington’s Disease, and Tourette’s syndrome. The center gives patients comprehensive services ranging from diagnosis to rehabilitation.

Dementia symptoms usually include at least one or more of the following: memory loss; difficulty with skilled motor tasks; impaired judgment and reasoning; loss of motivation, planning ability and organizational skills; problems with calculations and behavioral problems, including paranoia, and agitation.

Symptoms usually include at least one or more of the following: memory loss; difficulty with skilled motor tasks; impaired judgment and reasoning; loss of motivation, planning ability and organizational skills; problems with calculations and behavioral problems, including paranoia, and agitation. Emory recognizes how complex these diseases are and gives patients a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, neuropsychologists, nurses, counselors, and psychometricians gives patients outpatient consultations and evaluations include clinical examination and cognitive screening assessment.

When Do You Need Back Surgery?

By David Betz

Most of us are familiar with back pain of some kind. You bend over to pick something up or twist the wrong way, and the pain hits you like a baseball bat. Even though it hurts a lot, however, you usually get better in a few days by resting, using a heating pad or ice packs and taking anti-inflammatory medications.

Sometimes your back pain doesn’t go away, though. It may have been getting worse for a long time, and you’re tired of suffering with it. You’ve probably tried a lot of things besides home treatment, like prescription medications, steroid injections and physical therapy, and you’re still not getting relief.

Physicians are reluctant to suggest back surgery unless it’s really necessary and nothing else helps. Any kind of surgery has risks associated with it; some risks associated with back surgery are:

· General surgical risks, such as reaction to anesthesia, bleeding, infection, lung problems and blood clots.

· Problems with the surgery itself, like poor healing of bone grafts.

· Problems due to spinal nerve damage, like weakness and paralysis, urinary or fecal incontinence and sexual dysfunction.

· Poor surgical results. Back surgery doesn’t always relieve the pain, and some people even get “failed back surgery syndrome” with persistent pain.

· Problems due to scar tissue formation. As time goes by, scar tissue shrinks, and it can cause pressure on the spinal nerves and your back pain can come back.

There are some newer “minimally invasive” procedures using endoscopes. The surgeon inserts a small endoscope through a tiny incision. Using a microscopic camera, she can directly visualize the damage and repair it through the endoscope. Instead of cutting the muscles, she pushes them aside, which means there is less scarring after surgery. This is an exciting development because endoscopic surgery can be as effective as open back surgery, there are fewer complications, you’re in the hospital for a shorter time, and you recover faster.

With all of that said, however, there are times when you really do need back surgery. Your doctor may recommend it if:

· You’ve had back pain for six months or longer that is not getting better with other treatments.

· You have weakness in your arms or legs, trouble grasping things or numbness/tingling in your legs and feet.

· You have lost bladder or bowel control

· You have spinal instability.

· You have spinal deformity.

When you can’t manage the pain or when you’re having functional problems because the spinal cord and/or spinal nerves are being impaired—that’s when you need back surgery.

David Betz is a consultant doing work for Laser Spine Surgery http://www.laserspineinstitute.com and
Houston Web Site Design http://www.novatexsolutions.com

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Spine – Laser Spine Surgery in India at Low Cost

By Shalaka Chindarkar

A laser spine surgery is a minimally invasive procedure for performing laser surgeries of the spine. With these minimally invasive procedures the blood loss is minimum and the surgical incisions made is also small.

The associated pain and the recovery period is also less for such laser spine surgery. Laser spine surgeries are used to treat disorders like failed back syndrome, radiculopathy, sciatica, foraminal stenosis, arthritis and nerve entrapment syndromes.

Usually a laser spine surgery is done with local anesthesia or a mild sedation. Techniques like microscopic, endoscopic, and arthroscopic are used in these surgeries. During the procedure, a thin needle is inserted into the herniated disc under x-ray guidance. An optical fiber is inserted through the needle and laser energy is sent through the fiber, vaporizing a tiny portion of the disc nucleus. This creates a partial vacuum, which draws the herniation away from the nerve root, thereby relieving the pain. The effect usually is immediate. Patients get off the table with just a small adhesive bandage and return home for 24 hours of bed rest.

When considering undergoing spine surgery there are a few choices out there are as under :

Foraminotomy : A foraminotomy is a laser spine surgery used to relieve certain specific spinal conditions. It uses an arthroscopic approach to open the foramen without any need of general anesthesia.

Laminotomy : laminotomy uses an arthroscopic approach to opening the spinal canal for laser spine surgery. With no need for general anesthesia laser spine surgery can be performed in an outpatient surgical setting.

Endoscopic Disectomy : When Herniated disc or bulging disc material presses on a nerve root or directly on the spinal cord, laser spine surgery can be performed to remove the portion on the disc that is causing pain.

About 70 to 90% of patients get what they term as “good to excellent” relief. This compares to conventional surgery where most get 50 to 70% “good to excellent” results.

Advantages of Laser Spine Surgery:

• Minimally invasive
• No cutting
• No scarring
• No general anesthesia
• No hospital stay
• Short recovery period
• Costs 1/3 to 1/2 of conventional surgery

Except above India has become a global center of excellence in spine surgery including lazer spine surgery, best spine surgery hospital, innovative lazer technique, top class medical expertise at an attractive price.

Due to all these,the cost of spine surgery in India is less and saves you 60- 75% of your hard earned money. It costs only 25% of the price quoted in America.

For more details visit at http://www.spinesurgery-wecareindia.com

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Selective Endoscopic Discectomy: Extremely Minimally Invasive Surgery

By Elliot Gross

TRANSFORAMINAL SELECTIVE ENDOSCOPIC DISCECTOMY: extremely minimally invasive surgical treatment for lower back and leg pain.

While 95% of people who sustain an injury to their lower back will recover with a combination of conservative treatment and preventative measures there is a small group of patients who fail to respond to these measures.

This article is meant for those patients who remain unhappy with their symptoms and have been advised by their treating physicians that they would have to live with their present symptomatology or undergo extensive spinal surgery. The following information is about SELECTIVE ENDOSCOPIC DISCECTOMY an alternative procedure for those patients who do not want to live with chronic pain, undergo extensive spinal surgery and do not want to have general anesthesia.

The typical patient frequently presents several months or more after having sustained an injury to the lower back with no previous history of any back problems. Initial treatment from the general practitioner, chiropractor or emergency room physician might include that the patient take anti-inflammatory medication, analgesics, muscle relaxants, limit activities and receive physiotherapy. When the patient’s problem did not resolve the patient may have been sent to an orthopedic or neurosurgical specialist who scheduled the patient for an MRI scan that may have revealed one or multiple disc bulges, disc protrusions or disc herniations. The patient may have been provided with additional treatment in the form of a lower back brace and a series of epidural cortisone injections along with specific trunk/abdominal/lower back stabilization exercises or Pilates exercises. While the patient may have noticed some partial improvement with any or all of the above measures he or she may have significant residual lower back pain and radicular pain into one or both of the legs. At that point the patient may have been told that surgical intervention would be necessary in the form of either a micro lumbar laminectomy or a Metrx discectomy under general anesthesia or if the problem was more extensive that a spinal fusion or disc replacement surgery might be indicated.

At that point after thorough review of the patient’s history and performing a complete physical examination and discussing the patient’s MRI scan I might find that the patient could be a candidate for the SELECTIVE ENDOSCOPIC DISCECTOMY procedure if the patient was found to have either a contained lumbar disc protrusion or lumbar disc herniation unassociated with elements of severe arthritic changes. At that point we would recommend to the patient that additional confirmatory testing be performed in the form of a provocative discogram to determine the exact disc that is causing the residual pain and then follow the discogram with a SELECTIVE ENDOSCOPIC DISCECTOMY procedure.

A discogram is an X-ray study performed under flouroscopic control in an outpatient surgical center using local anesthesia. A needle is placed in the center of the abnormal disk and in an adjoining normal disc and a solution consisting of X-ray contrast dye mixed with indigo Carmine blue dye is injected into these discs. Since the patient is awake as the dye causes increasing pressure in the center of the disc most likely this will reproduce the patient symptoms in the back and/or leg pain and also define the abnormal anatomy of the damage disc on the floroscope. If the patient’s symptoms are reproduced by this discogram it is considered a positive concordant discogram and the patient can then be treated with the SELECTIVE ENDOSCOPIC DISCECTOMY either immediately or at a later time if insurance authorization is required.

The SELECTIVE ENDOSCOPIC DISCECTOMY procedure is then performed under local anesthesia with the patient awake and in the prone position on special pillows. A small needle is inserted into the disc space after local anesthesia has been administered. A 7mm (1/4inch) skin incision is made and a spine arthroscope is slipped into the abnormal disc. Under fluoroscopic control, the micro-instruments (mini forceps, mini curettes, and mini cutters-shavers) and the laser probe are used for removal of only the damaged disc material. The laser is used for further removal and shrinkage of the disc for the purpose of disc decompression and tightening up of the annulus. The procedure takes about 30 minutes to an hour per disc, on the average. The amount of disc removed and shrinkage by the laser varies, but includes only the herniated and damaged portion. The supporting structure of the disc is not affected. Upon completion, the probe is removed and a small Band-Aid is applied over the needle incision. Since the patient is awake during the procedure frequently they are interested in watching the monitor as we remove the damage disc material.

After surgery the patient is sent home and advised to use ice packs on the lower back and take mild oral analgesics and rest for few days. Many patients are able to resume work within a few days. The patient are advised prior to the procedure that if the preoperative pain was primarily lower back that in excess of 86% good and excellent results should be expected. If the patient’s pain was back and leg pain good and excellent results should approach 92%.

Most of the time the patient’s return to the office one week later feeling much improved and wanting to know why this procedure was not performed on them earlier and why the procedure works. We believe that this technique is successful because the abnormal portion of the disc that is creating internal pressure against the annulus and nerve root is removed, the fissures in the annulus that allow leakage of disc fluid and material are sealed and tighten up and the constant flow of irrigating saline through the endoscope washes out the irritating damaged metabolites( prostaglandins, histamines,and substance P & X). No deep tissue is cut and generally no bone has to be removed.

The following patients are not candidates for selective endoscopic discectomy:

1. The rare patient than has a disk that has become a fully extruded and migrated up into the spinal canal.

2. The patient has extensive spinal stenosis will need an extensive amount of bone removed which is better done with open surgery.

3. The patient has extensive spinal instability and requires a spinal fusion that must be done with an open procedure.

For those patients who are afraid of having extensive spinal surgery and have been told that they will have to live with their lower back pain, SELECTIVE ENDOSCOPIC DISCECTOMY is an exciting successful minimally invasive surgical alternative procedure that it is performed under local anesthesia and has a very high rate of patient satisfaction. For further information see www.back-surgery-online.com.

Dr. Elliot Gross is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon. His practice focuses on back pain and sciatic pain. He has been in practice in the Los Angeles area since 1975 and he has especially specialized in the care and treatment of injured workers and is a recognized Qualified Medical Examiner and Agreed Medical Examiner. He works closely with all medical providers including chiropractors, internists, physical therapists and accupunturists. His practice coordinates care with claims adjustors, nurse case managers and workers compensation attorneys to provide the best comprehensive recovery program for the injured individual.

Dr. Elliot Gross has a philosophy of treating patients that is extremely conservative. He tries to do the least invasive therapy that will resolve or improve the persons problem. The patient is viewed as a whole being with a strong interaction between the mind and the spirit.

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