WHEN IS AN ANTERIOR FUSION CHOSEN INSTEAD OF A POSTERIOR FUSION?
An anterior fusion is chosen for several reasons. Your surgeon may feel that with the new cage technology and your particular situation that an anterior fusion is a better way to obtain a fusion. However, anterior fusion is also used with to a posterior fusion to obtain a higher percent of fusion rate. In certain spinal deformity situations (eg. scoliosis), multiple disks are removed from the front of the spine to “loosen up” the spine and improve the correction of the deformity.
