Spinal Fusion
Spinal fusion is a surgical procedure that involves joining two or more vertebrae in the spine to alleviate pain and instability. It aims to create a solid, stable spinal column and may be recommended for conditions such as spinal fractures, deformities, or degenerative disc disease.
Subscribe to the BlogHelping a Competitive Teen Gymnast with Spondylolysis Avoid Surgery
For many teen athletes, their sport is their life. These days, a good number of teens come up against serious physical obstacles. This morning we’ll review a patient journey who reached back out to Dr. Jason Markle of our Colorado HQ site to update him on how she’s doing 5 years down the road. We’ll…read more
Why Can’t We Be Friends? A Regenative Labs Update
It seems like such a simple missive, “Why can’t we be friends?” Who could possibly disagree with that concept? This is what a company called “Regenative Labs” has been pinging me with on LinkedIn. What’s that all about and how could I possibly refuse? Let’s dig in. Regenative Pings Me Several weeks ago, I started…read more
The Fusion War
Who should control Spinal Fusion among doctors? There’s an interesting fight going on that’s worth exploring. Let’s dig in. What Is Fusion? Spinal surgeons can install hardware and make sure degenerative and painful Spine segments don’t move anymore. This is of course an issue, as it hasn’t been shown to be any better than just…read more
ANOTHER Study Shows Fusion Is an Expensive Tip
What if a very invasive spine procedure became common to treat degenerative disease despite a high complication rate and multiple studies showing it was ineffective? This would make little common sense, right? However, that’s what has happened with Lumbar Fusion. Now yet another new study shows it doesn’t work. Let’s dig in. What Is DDD…read more
Why Are Interventional Pain Physicians Becoming Spine Surgeons?
We’ve all started attending in-person conferences again while some are still virtual. Having not been doing this for two years, one of the things that startled me was the number of booths selling percutaneous fusion devices to interventional pain physicians. So what’s up? Is this a good or a bad trend? What Is an Interventional…read more
Do You Really Need that Low Back Fusion?
Low Back Fusion has become one of the most common surgical procedures performed in the US, despite very poor evidence that it’s better than not doing any surgery. One of the big issues that often comes up for patients who have a condition called Degenerative Spondylolisthesis is whether they need a Fusion or can just…read more
Surgery for Tethered Cord in Adults?
One of the trends I have seen these past few years is a number of people getting diagnosed with a tethered cord and getting surgery for this issue. So what is this and why would surgery be needed? Are these patients getting needed procedures or exposing themselves to serious risks they don’t need to take?…read more
Do You Need Spondylolysis Surgery?
Do you need spondylolysis surgery? The answer is probably not. However, let’s review what your options are including new procedures that promote healing without surgery. What is Spondylolysis? Before we learn about spondylolysis surgery, we need to learn about the medical problem of spondylolysis and it’s cousin spondylolisthesis. This is a medical term derived from…read more 