Spinal fusion applies techniques that resemble your natural bones’ healing procedure and may be beneficial in reducing friction between loose vertebrae. Glendale spinal fusion will require bone grafting before surgery to promote healing and increase stability in the affected vertebrae. You may take time before complete recovery.Therefore, your doctor may recommend physical therapy to increase proper alignment. Spinal fusion offers effectiveness and safety in treating deformities, fractures, and instability and giving you relief from painful symptoms.
Where does Spinal Fusion Apply?
You may need spinal fusion if you have tumors, spinal stenosis, herniated discs, scoliosis, and degenerative disc diseases, among other disorders. You may also need the procedure if you have spinal weakness and instability resulting from arthritis, tumors, and infections. Spinal fusion can treat these deformities, improve stability, and lower pain in the affected joints. The treatment resembles the natural healing process of fractured and broken bones using screws, plates, and rods to hold your joints together.
What Are The Steps Involved in Spinal Fusion?
Spinal fusion can happen in several steps, from preparation to surgery. You can find out about the steps in the discussion below.
Preparation for Spinal Fusion
Your doctor will perform lab tests to check your medical health, review your medical and family history and come up with the right diagnosis. You may need to inform your doctor about habits you practice, including smoking and drug use, current prescriptions, and supplements you are taking. Your doctor may give you instructions on what medications you can avoid before surgery as they may affect the results of your procedure.
Bone Grafting
Before spinal fusion, you will require bone grafting to help with the fusion process. Bone grafts will stimulate bone healing to increase bone production, thus helping the bone heal in one solid unit. Your doctor may choose an autograft which your doctor harvests from your pelvis. Also, your surgeon may suggest harvesting from a decompression site, using local autograft, where your doctor recycles a bone and moves it to the compression site. The last alternative may be an allograft your doctor harvests from a cadaver.
Immobilization and Fusion
After the bone grafting procedure, your surgeon will hold the vertebrae together through fusion. Your doctor will fix the graft between the joins and then use rods, metal plates, and screws to hold the vertebra while allowing the graft to heal. The metal plates and screws add stability, therefore, and you will move around soon after surgery.
Recovery
You may need a hospital stay for monitoring before you can go home. Your doctor may administer pain medications and instructions to help you move around. You may need braces for a while so your spine can align.
You can visit HAAS Spine & Orthopaedics today if you want to benefit from a spinal fusion procedure. You have an increased chance of success after surgery and can return to your regular activities after a short period. Your doctor will also give instructions on how to move about as you recover. Visit the website to make an appointment online.
