Back Pain: Flex Instead of Fuse?
Doctors Say More Movement Is Better
Posted: 2:57 p.m. EDT July 18, 2002Updated: 2:59 p.m. EDT July 18, 2002
MADISON, Wis. -- If you have Degenerative Spinal Disc Disease, spinal fusion may no longer be your only option.
Doctors now say technology called Pro-Disc could be the answer. Instead of immobilizing part of the spine through fusion, Pro-Disc works by flexing and extending much like a normal disc. And the more it works like a regular disc, the better, experts say.
"With an artificial disc replacement which allows motion, we are able to delay or perhaps avoid degenerization above and below that diseased disc level," says Dr. Rick Delamarter from The Spine Institute.
Delamarter says this type of treatment has been used in Europe for a decade and the results have been positive.
Most patients return home within two days of the treatment and can return to work in a few weeks.
Spinal Fusion: Best Choice?
Each year more than 150,000 people undergo spinal fusion, which doctors say may not be the right option.
During spinal fusion vertebrae in the spine are permanently attached together, preventing the discs from slipping.
Back specialists, however, urge patients to consider conditioning exercise, weight-loss, drugs or even killing off of specific nerves before resorting to spinal fusion.
"For people who simply have back pain ... not what I call instability, they should avoid fusion at all cost," says Dr. Emile Hiesiger, from NYU Medical Center.
Hiesiger says spinal fusion will eventually cause pressure, damaging other parts of the spine and potentially leading to a need for more surgery.
Doctors now say technology called Pro-Disc could be the answer. Instead of immobilizing part of the spine through fusion, Pro-Disc works by flexing and extending much like a normal disc. And the more it works like a regular disc, the better, experts say.
"With an artificial disc replacement which allows motion, we are able to delay or perhaps avoid degenerization above and below that diseased disc level," says Dr. Rick Delamarter from The Spine Institute.
Delamarter says this type of treatment has been used in Europe for a decade and the results have been positive.
Most patients return home within two days of the treatment and can return to work in a few weeks.
Spinal Fusion: Best Choice?
Each year more than 150,000 people undergo spinal fusion, which doctors say may not be the right option.
During spinal fusion vertebrae in the spine are permanently attached together, preventing the discs from slipping.
Back specialists, however, urge patients to consider conditioning exercise, weight-loss, drugs or even killing off of specific nerves before resorting to spinal fusion.
"For people who simply have back pain ... not what I call instability, they should avoid fusion at all cost," says Dr. Emile Hiesiger, from NYU Medical Center.
Hiesiger says spinal fusion will eventually cause pressure, damaging other parts of the spine and potentially leading to a need for more surgery.
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