Choosing a spinal surgeon is among the most important medical decisions a patient can make. A spinal surgeon does more than perform an operation. A spinal surgeon consults with you, explains options and answers questions, and plans your treatment and recovery. You need to trust your spine surgeon, and to feel free to discuss all medical matters frankly.
You should choose a spinal surgeon who is board certified or board eligible, and trained in a fellowship program. If possible, choose a surgeon who specializes in the area of the spine that requires treatment– for example, a lumbar spinal surgery specialist if your problem is in the lower back. Alternatively, choose a spine surgeon who specializes in treating the specific condition affecting you, such as spondylolisthesis or spinal cord injuries.
Recent years have witnessed tremendous advances in treatment of spinal conditions, such as minimally invasive procedures that provide better outcomes than traditional open back surgery. It is essential that you choose a back surgeon that has experience with advanced procedures, to ensure you have access to the very latest treatments and the greatest spectrum of surgical options. For example, surgery to treat spinal stenosis, slipped disc and a variety of other conditions that can result in pinched nerves, have often utilized spinal fusion back surgery as a means of stabilizing the spine, following spinal decompression therapy. Today the TOPS ™ (Total Posterior Solution) System provides a clinically proven superior alternative to spinal fusion surgery. Moreover, the TOPS implant preserves the full range of movement of the spine’s individual vertebrae, whereas spinal fusion eliminates the spine’s natural motion between fused vertebral segments. Examples like this illustrate why it’s important to work with a spine surgeon who can offer a complete range of surgical options. Thoroughly investigate all your treatment options as well as the qualifications of the specialists you consider working with, and you’ll be sure to make a wise choice when it comes to selecting a spinal surgeon.
Can you really travel to a foreign destination for a vacation and receive high-quality medical care at the same time? That’s the question many people raise when the subject of medical tourism comes up.
Many people are skeptical of medical tourism, and understandably so. When you receive medical care in your home country, you’ll naturally feel more comfortable with the treatment process. However, there are many advantages that medical tourism can offer.
For some patients, traveling to a different country for medical care is a worthwhile task. Keep reading to learn more.
Medical tourism is a term used to describe the action of traveling internationally for medical care.
The following benefits are attributed to the popularity of medical tourism for USA patients:
This is the key benefit of medical tourism. Many people can attain high-quality medical care at a fraction of the cost by traveling overseas. This particularly applies to patients in the U.S., which lacks a public healthcare system.
The quality of care should always be the primary consideration in medical tourism. There are first-rate medical facilities and health care professionals in many areas across the globe. Some of these areas, which are widely considered to be the best countries for medical tourism, include Germany, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Israel, India, Thailand, Singapore, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Cyprus.
Different areas of the world have different medical regulatory bodies. Here in the United States, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) protects Americans’ health by regulating drugs, biological products, medical devices, food, cosmetics, and even certain electric products.
In many instances, medical innovations have been developed, proven to be successful, and used for many years in other areas of the world. But, with the FDA’s regulatory processes, it can take a long time for those proven medical solutions to become available in the United States. This can also apply to residents of other countries who don’t have access to many of the advanced medical treatments in the United States.
Medical tourism can give patients access to the latest medical technology and, as a result, a higher quality of care.
The United States has the most expensive healthcare in the world. So, while few people would consider medical tourism to the U.S., many Americans contemplate international travel to lower their medical expenses.
When considering traveling internationally for a procedure, it’s wise to consider medical tourism examples and statistics.
Consumers who are interested in medical tourism value a variety of factors. The most prominent of these factors include:
Finances are arguably the most important factor to medical tourism consumers. In fact, in a study from the Medical Tourism Association, 85% of surveyed patients who traveled overseas to a hospital reported that the cost of medical care was a very important deciding factor.
The healthcare system in the United States leaves an estimated 9.6% of residents without health insurance, as of 2021. Even among individuals who do have health insurance coverage, high co-pays and deductibles can make it difficult to afford medical care.
With these facts in mind, it’s unsurprising that cost is a crucial factor for medical tourism consumers. Above all, these consumers want to secure an affordable price for medical care by traveling overseas.
Quality of care is paramount for many medical tourism consumers. By traveling to other countries, patients can attain a higher quality of care (at a lower cost) when compared to the medical treatment available in their home countries.
However, without the assurances that Americans are accustomed to under the FDA, consumers must consider the laws and regulations surrounding medical care in the country that they’re traveling to, as well as the foreign practice’s certifications.
While discussing the benefits of medical tourism, we mentioned that it can grant patients access to advanced treatments that aren’t available in their home country. With this in mind, the treatments available in other countries are a key consideration for medical tourism consumers.
Waiting lists for health care services are another consideration among medical tourism consumers. As of 2022, in the United States, 28% of patients sometimes, rarely, or never receive a response from their primary physician on the same day. This is a high percentage when compared to many other areas of the globe. However, 27% of patients in the U.S. wait one month or more for a specialist appointment, which is a lower percentage than in many other countries, including Norway and Canada.
With that said, long wait lists are primarily a concern for medical tourism consumers in nations with public healthcare systems.
Although medical tourism can provide several benefits, it also presents certain risks and safety concerns, including:
Some countries have a risk of complications including HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, blood infections, wound infections, and infections from donor tissue or blood.
If patients travel to a facility using a language that they don’t speak fluently, doctor-patient communication can be difficult. Given that doctors provide crucial pre-op and post-op information, as well as procedure specifics, this may lead to confusion and errors.
Certain areas may not have comparable requirements for medical licensing and accreditation. This creates the risk of low quality of care.
Doctors typically advise against air travel immediately after surgery. This is because flying raises the risk of developing a blood clot. Depending on the type of surgical procedure, patients should wait between seven and 10 days before flying.
To avoid these risks, medical tourism consumers should ensure that:
As we’ve already mentioned, a significant benefit of medical tourism is that you can gain access to treatments that have not yet or have only recently been, approved for use in your country. Procedures that have been proven effective and are widely used in certain areas of the world can often benefit international patients.
The TOPS™ (Total Posterior Solution) procedure, performed in association with spinal decompression surgery, is an example of a procedure that has been used extensively in Europe but not yet in the United States. TOPS is an alternative to spinal fusion back surgery.
Spinal fusion is widely used with spinal decompression procedures for conditions like spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, bone spurs, and more. Unfortunately, fusion can severely limit patients’ range of motion in the back. Additionally, the complete recovery process for spinal fusion may last for six months to a year.
The TOPS System preserves the full range of motion between the individual vertebral segments, unlike spinal fusion. It involves a minimally-invasive surgical procedure, which greatly shortens the spinal surgery recovery period. In fact, patients may start moving around the day after TOPS surgery with few, if any, restrictions.
For certain patients with specific medical conditions, medical tourism could be the ticket to high-quality, low-cost healthcare. If you think you may benefit from medical tourism, make sure to conduct thorough research, find an accredited facility, and evaluate all of the risks before scheduling your appointment abroad.
Near the top of the list of questions from almost every spinal surgery, the patients indicate how long they will have to wait for the following surgery before resuming their everyday activities. When it includes athletics – golf and tennis, bowling and the like, pastimes that put tremendous strain on the back – the answer becomes more complex. The factors influencing the time before patients can get back in the game include their physical condition and health. Just because one engages in strenuous physical activity doesn’t mean they are in good physical condition or health. Recovery times are faster for surgery patients in good physical shape because their bodies heal more quickly. Of course, the operation itself will play a significant role in deciding when you’ll be back on the tennis courts, golf course, taking a job, or engaging in a simple walk. The postoperative physical therapy program also plays a significant role. But the type of back surgery is the primary factor affecting the time required to get back into sports activities.
How to recover from surgery if you are an athlete or cannot live without daily activity – read further in this article.
While many people consider back surgery as the end of a promising sports career, Olympic, amateur, or professional athletes have returned to their competition after many common types of operations. General physical condition, professionalism during surgery, and spine rehabilitation affect how quickly you return to the game. Here are some tips for athletes planning to return to sport after a minimally invasive intervention.
In most cases, surgeons consult about postoperative care. They depend not only on the patient’s health and medical history but also on the desire to return to sports. We previously discussed lower back surgery recovery: diet, exercise, physical therapy, massages, proper wound care, and medication support are vital aspects of recovery. Of course, you shouldn’t neglect motivation and grit to achieve success. And if your competition is right around the corner, and you’re still in the hospital ward, this is not a reason to be upset. Your orthopedic surgeon will take this into account when planning your postoperative period. Of course, everyone wants to leave and start an everyday life immediately. Still, following the recommendations, you’ll be able to return to sports faster than causing implicit harm to your body during self-rehabilitation. Returning too early cancels not only the healing but the operation’s effectiveness.
So, a doctor’s advice may include:
You’d also talk to your coach about your career prospects or options (if you’re an amateur athlete) when getting approval from your PCP to return to athletics. It’s essential to be careful and aware of the limitations.
The postoperative stage depends on the patient, understanding the symptoms of complications, and a quick reaction if something goes wrong. E.g., accurately characterizing the level of pain and discomfort, reporting aches, numbness of the limbs, dizziness, suppuration in the wound area doesn’t mean a step back in the rehabilitation progress, but on the contrary, the ability to accelerate after a slight slowdown. Try to protect the spine, especially in the early stages of recovery. Respect your body and its healing times.
Infections at the site of the surgical incision most often occur 2–4 weeks after the intervention. Most often, the following symptoms appear:
It’s essential to treat any of these and some other signs as they arise. If ignored, unavoidable consequences may occur.
For patients with deep infection, a course of intravenous antibiotics is often given for about two months. Chronic contamination leads to the removal of the implant.
Keep the wound clean: it must be washed with water and soap at least once a day. Remember to keep the wound dry for healing and crusting. It’s undesirable to utilize ointments, lotions, body creams on the operated areas. After two weeks, when the staples or stitches are removed, you may return to bathing or swimming.
For opioid pain relievers, discontinuation usually occurs within the first few weeks, at most a month. There are other pain management options, such as using acetaminophen or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. But, as in the first case, they have their pros and cons and depend on the medical history. By combining medicines with physical therapy, you can achieve impressive results.
It’s no secret that athletes’ dedication to the postoperative rehabilitation program greatly influences their subsequent success. Depending on overall progress in physical therapy, you may get consent to exercise, but return to activity must be gradual and gentle to avoid unnecessary risks.
Patients, who have undergone minimally invasive TOPS™ procedures, can usually regain a full and painless range of motion. They have the greatest likelihood of returning to sport at pre-injury levels. Conversely, most exercises after spinal fusion aren’t available to athletes, and the possibility of injury increases – they’re less likely to return to athletics. Any collisions and falls will negatively affect health.
In any case, physiotherapy is a panacea for healing – movement combined with other aspects of rehabilitation can give you a chance for a better life. Let’s consider the leading practices that are useful for patients in the postoperative period.
It’s worth moving daily to improve blood circulation and speed up the healing of muscles and spine tissues. E.g., an essential therapy is walking, which can support the normal functioning of the heart and lungs. An upright position of the body is the best activity for the spine after surgery – this way, you can protect the discs from unnecessary stress. So, start with simple walks, and then work with your coach to develop your exercise program.
That’s one of the simplest and effective therapies utilized in various types of operations. For instance, laminectomy recovery exercises are invaluable as they help protect discs and strengthen your back muscles.
This exercise is valuable because the discs hold the lower back during flexion and extension of the lumbar spine. So, to perform the training, you need to do the following steps:
To strengthen the muscles of the lower back, it’s worth doing the SLR exercise. To do this, while lying on your stomach, slowly and alternately lift each leg up. In doing so, try to tighten your abdominal muscles. Do an exercise with a delay of two seconds at the highest point of the limb position. As before, do ten reps per set. Such a physiotherapy approach is appropriate for laminectomy, fusion, microdiscectomy, decompression, and of course, implantation.
As you improve your range of motion in your spine, it’s time to start doing more challenging activities that will help you get back to working condition. To do this, discuss a possible change in activity with a PCP and trainer and adjust the training schedule. After implantation, you don’t have to worry that you can’t perform some exercises. The TOPS™ System is an alternative to spinal fusion and allows you to perform any range of movements required for warm-up, training, and cool-down.
Spinal surgery is stressful on the body. Anyone who is having spine surgery needs to prepare his or her body for the surgery and recovery period by getting in shape, getting the proper amount of rest, and following other healthy habits. Taking vitamins are among the steps that physicians often recommend to help the body heal and recover from surgery as quickly as possible.
Back surgery patients should begin taking vitamins as far as a year in advance of surgery, if possible. A well-rounded multivitamin and mineral supplement with B12, vitamin E, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus are what your body needs to heal. Whole food vitamin and mineral supplements are often recommended because they are made from food rather than synthetic vitamins, and thus are easier for the body to utilize.
Vitamin C is another important vitamin to have on your pre- and post-surgery vitamin list. Vitamin C promotes healing and helps the body defend against illness, which can greatly interfere with surgical recovery. Vitamin A is another important healing vitamin. It protects cells and helps build new tissue, a vital part of surgical recovery.
Some types of vitamins, minerals and supplements should be avoided, as they can contribute to complications such as excessive bleeding. You should have a discussion with your spine surgeon about what vitamins you should and shouldn’t take as part of your early surgical planning.
Just as choosing the right vitamins can help speed recovery, so can choosing the right surgical procedure with the best outcomes. For example, spinal stenosis, slipped disc, spinal cord injury and a host of other spinal problems are often treated with spinal decompression surgery to relieve symptoms of nerve compression. In the past, spinal fusion back surgery was routinely performed in conjunction with spinal decompression to stabilize the spine, though fusion eliminates the natural, independent motion of the fused vertebrae. But today the TOPS™ (Total Posterior Solution) System, an advanced implant device, offers a surgical alternative that has been proven in clinical studies around the world to provide better outcomes than spinal fusion. So by all means take vitamins to speed your recuperation from surgery, but also make sure you are aware of your treatment options, and choose procedures that provide the best and quickest paths to complete recovery.
You have a pinched nerve, slipped disc, a spinal cord injury, or other back problem that has not responded to conservative treatments, and you have reached the decision to have spinal surgery. You and your back surgeon will discuss many aspects of your pre- and post-operative treatment, and the subject of the medications that you are currently taking – and whether you should continue their use – is high on the list of topics.
Usually patients are advised to continue use of prescription medications such as those for controlling blood pressure, even on the day of surgery – provided the medications are taken with just a small sip of water. However, use of blood thinners, aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs, and diabetic and herbal medications should be discontinued prior to surgery. Your surgeon and staff will ask for a complete list of all medications you are taking, and it’s important to provide accurate answers.
One of the goals of post-operative care is effective pain management, and that requires patients to be free and weaned from any narcotic pain medications and muscle relaxants before the back surgery is performed. Fortunately, the open back surgery procedures of just a few years ago have in many cases been replaced by less invasive surgical procedures performed to relieve common back problems such as spinal stenosis, or symptoms of sciatica. These minimally invasive procedures cause little damage to collateral tissue, and therefore produce less pain and require less palliative medication, further speeding recovery. Other recent advances provide improved post-operative outcomes. For example, patients can now choose the TOPS™ (Total Posterior Solution) System instead of spinal fusion back surgery after a spinal decompressionprocedure. The TOPS System provides better clinical outcomes than spinal fusion, and preserves the full range of the individual vertebrae. Spinal fusion eliminates the independent motion of fused vertebrae, and has been shown to promote deterioration of adjacent vertebrae.
The procedure selected to treat your back problem is also a critical part of the discussions you will have with your orthopedic surgeon. Be sure to discuss all your surgical options, including advanced, proven procedures that can provide the best outcomes for your spinal condition.
Whether to treat a slipped disc from age-related spinal degeneration or a traumatic spinal cord injury, spinal surgery is never taken lightly. When lower back surgery is selected as the preferred treatment option, it indicates that the condition being treated is severe.
Spine surgery comes along with the expectation that it will provide a meaningful improvement in the targeted medical condition. This improvement generally includes a reduction in the patient’s pain, as well as restored movement.
With these improvements in mind, there’s actually much to look forward to while you prepare for spine surgery! To ensure that the procedure and recovery go as smoothly as possible, consider these tips:
So, what’s our top tip for how to prepare for spinal surgery? Get in the best shape you can – mentally and physically.
To improve your physical fitness, exercise thoughtfully and eat a healthy diet. Exercising can be difficult when you’re dealing with a spinal condition. However, maintaining muscle strength and flexibility, as well as reaching a healthy weight, will aid in your spinal surgery recovery.
Additionally, exercising boosts endorphins, the body’s natural “feel good” chemicals. Endorphins can help you manage stress, pain, and your general mental well-being leading up to spinal surgery.
Certain physical activities are safer and more beneficial for patients with spinal conditions than others. These activities include:
We recommend speaking to your physician before starting any new exercise regimen. Your physician can inform you of any exercises to avoid as you prepare for spinal surgery.
Additionally, as a general rule of thumb, avoid high-impact activities, like running and jogging, while you’re recovering from a spinal condition. High-impact activities can place added stress on the spine and may impede its recovery process.
Extra weight places stress on the back. In fact, excess weight leads to increased impact on the spine with each step that you take, potentially complicating back surgery recovery.
A 2017 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that intervertebral disc disorder and chronic lower back pain are connected to obese and overweight body status. With this in mind, losing weight can support the outcome of your spinal procedure and recovery.
However, lose weight sensibly! Extreme and unhealthy weight loss can compromise your condition leading up to the surgery.
Here are our top tips for losing weight healthily:
If you smoke, it’s in your best interest to quit before spinal surgery. Smoking is detrimental to the success of spinal surgery, as well as the body’s healing process, even for minimally-invasive spine surgery.
Nicotine constricts the blood vessels. This means that when you smoke, the circulation throughout your body decreases. As a result, all of your cells, including those in your spine, will receive less of the oxygen and nutrients that they need to heal.
Decreased blood flow from smoking can also prevent surgical wounds from closing and increase the risk of infection. The infection risk after spinal surgery is further increased in smokers because smoking hampers the immune system.
Smokers are also at a higher risk of complications from surgery, including stroke, heart attack, shock, and even death.
Several clinical studies illustrate the risk of smoking for patients with spinal conditions:
If you don’t quit smoking, you’ll be required to stop approximately four to six weeks before the lower back herniated disc surgery and other spinal procedures. You’ll also need to abstain from smoking for two weeks after the procedure.
Quitting smoking can be difficult, to say the least. Here are a few tips that may help you quit before spine surgery:
Talk to your doctor about all of the medications that you’re taking long before undergoing spinal surgery. Be very thorough, as even herbal supplements can impact your recovery or interact with other medications prescribed for surgery.
There are a few different types of drugs that you generally must stop taking before surgery. These include:
Anticoagulants are also known as blood thinners. This type of medication prevents the formation of blood clots. But, before surgery, blood thinners also raise your risk of bleeding. So, it’s crucial to talk to your prescribing physician and surgeon about the right time to stop taking anticoagulants before surgery.
Common prescription anticoagulants include warfarin, NSAIDs, enoxaparin, ticlopidine, clopidogrel, and dipyridamole. Additionally, there are several over-the-counter and herbal anticoagulants, including aspirin, NSAIDs (like ibuprofen), vitamin E, ginger, garlic, and ginkgo biloba.
MAOIs remove specific neurotransmitters from the brain. This category of drugs includes certain antidepressants and anti-Parkinson drugs. Unfortunately, MAOIs also interfere with the medications utilized during anesthesia and should be stopped about a week or two before spinal surgery.
All MAOIs are prescription medications. Examples include tranylcypromine, phenelzine, rasagiline, and isocarboxazid.
Prepare for lower back surgery by learning as much as you can about the facets of your spinal condition, as well as the available treatments. There are numerous lower back surgery types, especially with recent advances in the medical field. Different types of lower back surgery may offer unique benefits and drawbacks.
One essential aspect of education before lumbar spine surgery is to understand the expected recovery period. Spine surgery recovery can last anywhere from a few months to a year if you undergo lower back fusion surgery.
Learning about the recovery time for lower back surgery well in advance of your procedure will streamline your healing process. With this knowledge, you can better plan how much help you’ll need around the house, how much time to take off of work, and when you can expect to return to your favorite activities.
The last few years have seen dramatic advances in spinal procedures that can provide significantly improved clinical outcomes and shorter recovery periods. The TOPS™ (Total Posterior Solution) System, often used in the treatment of spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and other back problems involving a pinched nerve, is one such advanced procedure.
TOPS™ is an implant system approved for use as an alternative to lumbar spine fusion surgery after spinal decompression. The TOPS™ System preserves the independent flexion and bending of the individual vertebrae. This is in contrast to fusion surgery of the lower back, which eliminates this independent motion and can contribute to the deterioration of adjacent vertebrae.
The TOPS™ System has also been shown in clinical studies to provide better short- and long-term outcomes than spinal fusion.
Before undergoing spinal surgery, make sure to learn everything that you can about your condition and surgical options. By thoroughly discussing your treatment plan with your physician and asking any questions that come to mind, you’ll be far better prepared for your back surgery.
This is the big day, the day your spinal surgery will be performed and your back condition – be it facet arthrosis or lumbar radiculopathy – gets effective treatment. You’ve had your pre-operative appointment a day or so ago, and had your pre-operative physical assessment and other pre-operative workup. You’ve also met with an anesthesiologist team member to talk about your anesthesia.
Of course you’ve followed your orthopedic surgeon’s directions for the night before your back surgery. You didn’t eat or drink anything after midnight. You’ve consulted with your doctor about medications you are taking, and you’ve complied with all your physician’s directives. You prepared whatever you will bring with you last night, so you don’t feel rushed in getting to the facility at the appointed time. If there’s a keepsake that’s important that you want to bring with you – a ring for example – leave it at home.
If your family is coming with you, you already know where the waiting area is – they’ve probably seen it themselves – and you don’t have to worry about them. The staff will make sure they’re kept informed and comfortable. Following the surgery you will be taken to a recovery room. Much of what happens after the surgery – whether performed for a pinched nerve or an injury of the spinal cord – depends on factors including the severity of your condition, the effort you put into your post-operative physical therapy, and the surgical treatment you selected. Today advanced spine treatments are providing new options with better outcomes for some spinal surgery patients. Not all orthopedic surgeons are familiar with fully approved advanced surgical options such as the TOPS™ (Total Posterior Solution) System. TOPS is an approved implant that provides clinically proven superior outcomes to spinal fusion back surgery after spinal decompression therapy has been performed. Moreover, the spine’s natural range of motion is preserved with the TOPS System, unlike a spinal fusion procedure, which eliminates independent motion of the joined vertebrae, and can lead to deterioration of the adjacent vertebrae.
What’s most important to remember about your day of surgery, is all the care and thought you, your surgeon and your loved ones put into determining the best course of action. You’ve prepared, gotten ready, and now you’re finally moving forward! Congratulations!
With advanced procedures performed by highly trained and experienced surgeons, spinal surgery today boasts highly successful outcomes. Yet, complications can (and do) occur during the post-surgery recovery process.
The spinal surgery patient can serve as the first line of defense against these complications by taking an active role in managing his or her recovery. To ensure a successful recovery, patients need to prepare for the procedure well in advance.
In this article, we’ll discuss everything that patients need to know before undergoing spine surgery, including the precautions to take and the complications to be aware of.
Before spine surgery, you should prepare for the recovery process and follow all of your surgeon’s instructions. This will involve preparing your body for the procedure by:
The most important thing to do before spine surgery is to stop taking medications that could interfere with the procedure. Continuing to take these medications could alter the effects of the anesthesia, impede the recovery process, and lead to medical complications.
While this is one of the most important things to do before spine surgery, you should follow all of your surgeon’s recommendations to ensure a safe, successful procedure and recovery. Some patients will need to take particular pre-operative steps to account for underlying conditions, such as diabetes.
Before spinal surgery, take the following precautions:
A pre-operation checklist includes the steps and precautions that patients should take before surgery to ensure a successful recovery. These steps generally include:
There is a risk of complications from spinal surgery, as there is with any surgical procedure. Since spinal surgery involves operating around the spinal cord and nerves, there is a risk of nerve injury and paralysis. Although serious nerve complications are rare, it’s important to discuss this risk with your physician before planning to undergo spinal surgery.
Other possible complications from spinal surgery to be aware of include:
Infection is one significant postoperative risk. The rate of infection varies significantly depending on the type of spinal surgery, ranging from 0% to 18%. The patient’s underlying health also impacts his or her risk of infection.
You’ll be prescribed antibiotics as part of your post-operative recovery regimen. You’ll also be instructed on how to care for your surgical incision as it heals. Proper wound care is crucial to prevent infection – you’ll need to keep the wound clean and dry until it’s fully healed.
It’s important to carefully follow all of your physician’s directives to minimize the risk of infection. Infections inhibit the healing process and, if they spread, can affect other tissues and organs.
Shock is a possible complication of spinal surgery. It occurs when the patient’s blood pressure severely falls, leading to a serious reduction in the body’s blood circulation.
Infection, blood loss, metabolic issues, and brain injury can trigger shock in spine surgery patients. This complication can be treated by curbing the blood loss, assisting breathing, limiting heat loss, supplementing blood, fluids, or oxygen, and implementing medications that increase blood pressure.
Allergic reactions to anesthesia are rare but can occur. These reactions can range from mild to severe. The most severe type of reaction to anesthesia is known as malignant hyperthermia, which can be fatal without immediate treatment.
Most side effects from anesthesia are mild, including vomiting, nausea, sore throat, chills, and temporary confusion.
Blood clots in the leg are a potential complication of spinal surgery. Known as deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, this complication causes pain and inflammation in the leg. If the condition escalates, it can lead to a severe condition called pulmonary embolism.
The risk of DVT after spinal surgery is low, especially with minimally-invasive surgical techniques.
Pneumonia is another post-surgery risk. It’s a lower respiratory tract infection that causes symptoms including cough, chest pain, trouble breathing, and fever. Again, taking an active role in your recovery is the best way to avoid pneumonia and other respiratory problems.
Risk factors for postoperative pneumonia include:
Post-operative respiratory difficulties are exacerbated by inactivity and shallow breathing. The sooner you get up and about, the lower the risk of postoperative pneumonia. Talk to your doctor about how to safely remain active after spinal surgery.
Patients who undergo spinal fusion back surgery are at risk of the bone graft not healing property, known as a “failure of fusion”.
Spine fusion surgery is typically performed to stabilize the spine after spinal decompression surgery. During spinal decompression, the surgeon removes tissue that’s impinging on the spinal nerves to resolve conditions such as spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and herniated disc. Spinal fusion may be done to stabilize the spine after this procedure.
The chances of fusion failure are greatly increased for smokers or patients who use nicotine in any form, including nicotine patches. Some hospitals perform urine tests on patients before spinal fusion to ensure that they have no nicotine byproducts in their systems.
Adjacent segment disease is another possible complication of spinal fusion. It occurs when the vertebrae surrounding the fused segment break down more rapidly than usual. This condition develops because the adjacent vertebrae must bear added impact to offset the fusion.
Today, the TOPS (Total Posterior Solution) System provides an alternative to spinal fusion for patients undergoing spinal decompression surgery. The TOPS System has been proven in clinical studies conducted globally to produce superior clinical outcomes and fewer complications than spinal fusion. It’s a dynamic implant device that moves with the spine in all directions while preventing instability.
The more you know about the surgical options available to you, the more you can minimize your chances of post-surgical complications. Talk to your spinal surgeon to learn more about preparing for your spinal procedure.
Its name sounds complex, but the condition is very basic: Claudication is a pain, typically in the legs, caused by too little blood flow through the blood vessels during exercise. Claudication can affect the arms as well as the legs. At first the pain is only noticeable when exercising, but as the condition progresses, the pain can be present even when at rest. It is a symptom of, most commonly, peripheral artery disease, a treatable circulatory problem.
The pain is felt in areas where of artery narrowing or damage, and may present first in the feet, calves, thighs, hips or buttocks. The pain may come and go in tandem with the intensity of the exercise. As the condition progresses, claudication may occur when sitting or lying down. If the blood flow is severely compromised, toes or fingers may appear blue and feel cold to the touch. Sores may also develop as a result of reduced blood flow that would otherwise nourish the skin and flush toxins and infectious agents. Claudication may also cause a burning or aching sensation.
Spinal stenosis, an unnatural narrowing of the spinal canal, can cause claudication, though sometimes the back connection is missed in the initial diagnosis. Claudication can be treated through therapies ranging from healthy changes in lifestyle to vascular surgery performed on blood vessels. Spinal stenosis with claudication can be treated as well. Spinal decompression surgery can relieve pressure on nerve roots emanating from the spine, relieving the spinal claudication. Spinal decompression therapycan also be performed on a variety of spinal conditions that can cause pain and restrict mobility, like spondylolisthesis. Following decompression, the TOPS (Total Posterior Solution), an implant device, can stabilize the spine while preserving the full range of independent motion of each vertebrae. Before TOPS was available, patients were resigned to spinal fusion back surgery after decompression, a procedure that eliminates independent motion of the fused vertebrae, and that can contribute to spinal deterioration of adjacent vertebrae. Whatever the name of the spinal condition, make sure you get all the information about its treatment available.
You had spinal surgery two days ago – perhaps it was for a simple but persistent pinched nerve, or maybe it was a treatment for a spinal cord injury. Yesterday was your first post-operative day. You were groggy and uncomfortable, but you sensed already that something inside has been fixed, that you’re not under the same internal stress as you were before you were admitted for surgery some 48 hours ago. Possibly you spent the first night in the Intensive Care Unit, or ICU, as planned before surgery, in order to be ready for any post operative complications your spine surgeon was concerned about, due to the particulars of your spinal problem or health history. But now you’re in a regular hospital room. You had your first visit with your physical therapist yesterday and likely you got out of bed and were able to walk to a chair across the room and sit on it.
Today, on your second post-surgery day, your physical therapist will gently encourage you to do more. In fact, every day the goal of recovery is to do a little more than you did the day before. You probably have some incision related pain, and arm or leg pain may be felt periodically. That’s because the nerves have been irritated by the condition addressed by your back surgery – in fact, they can be further irritated by the surgery itself. This is a sign that the healing is progressing as anticipated. You are on the path to recovery!
If you had a non-fusion surgical procedure, such as is often performed today to treat conditions including spinal stenosis, or nerve compression problems that cause sciatica, or pinched nerves, your recovery will be much more rapid than if you underwent traditional lumbar fusion surgery to correct the problem. That’s why it’s important to review all your surgical options, and work with a back surgeon who is familiar and experienced with the latest advanced surgical procedures, so you can be sure you have access to the widest range of treatment options. For example, if you need spinal decompression surgery, now you can select the TOPS™ (Total Posterior Solution) System to stabilize the spine instead of spinal fusion back surgery, as has been the procedure commonly used after surgical decompression of the spine. The TOPS System provides better clinical outcomes than spinal fusion therapy, and preserves the natural, independent motion of the individual vertebrae, unlike fusion surgery.
Back surgery can provide tremendous relief for back problems when conservative treatment options fail. But it’s important for patients to be familiar with all their treatment options! That will help ensure your Post Op Day 2 – and all that follow – go a well as possible!