What is Lumbar Fusion Surgery?
The goal of lumbar fusion surgery is to relieve pain, numbness, tingling and weakness, restore nerve function and stop or prevent abnormal motion in the spine. This is done by fusing the vertebrae together. The lumbar fusion can be done in the front or the back of the spine. If the fusion is performed in the front of your spine, the surgeon will remove the disc (cushion between vertebrae) and any arthritic areas, and place a bone graft between the vertebrae where it eventually fuses to the surrounding vertebrae to stop abnormal motion. If the fusion is performed in the back of your spine, a bone graft will be placed on the sides of the vertebrae where it will grow together to the vertebrae to stop abnormal motion. The bone graft may be one of two types: an autograft (bone taken from your own body usually your pelvis) or an allograft (bone from a bone bank). Sometimes metal rods, screws or hooks are also used with the bone graft to further stabilize the spine. This is referred to as “in
When there a large amounts of lower lumbar back pain due to a degenerative disc spine fusion surgery is used. The lumbar fusion surgery is done to help resolve and relieve pain, numbness, tingling and weakness, restore nerve function or prevent abnormal motion in the spine. The surgery usually involved using bone grafts to allow vertebral bodies to grow together into a single long bone. The lumbar fusion purpose is to eliminate motion to a segment of the spine where motion is creating back pain. By providing stability to the vertebrae, abnormal motion is stopped and function is restored to the spinal nerves. What are potential complications with Lumbar Fusion? Every surgery has risks such as wound infection and antibiotics are used before and after surgery to prevent. Potential urinary problems including urinary retention and urinary tract infection. The bone graft area may present pain after the surgery. Another potential complication is if the fusion does not heal and might need to g
