Spine Surgery

Disc Replacement Side Effects: New Research Is Concerning

The whole idea behind disc replacement is that it should have fewer side effects than fusing the spine. The artificial disc allows motion, which is, in theory, similar to a normal biologic disc. However, what if an artificial disc ended up distorting normal motion so badly that it still caused the disc above and below…read more

Pain After Back Surgery? Did the Surgeon Leave a Big Hole in Your Fascia?

In the world of human anatomy, there is a part of the body that doesn’t get a whole lot of attention despite the fact it has a huge job. This structure is the thoracodorsal fascia. If you’ve had low-back surgery, your surgeon cut through your thoracodorsal fascia to access your spine, but is it possible…read more

Spondylolysis Recovery Time: Avoiding the Knife

Spondylolysis is common in disturbingly young athletes who are born with weakened or disconnected areas of their spine. Sometimes this break in the spine bone heals, and sometimes it doesn’t. When the spot doesn’t mend, the patient usually undergoes a big surgery that can cause serious problems. So if your spondylolysis recovery time is taking too…read more

LASER Spine Surgery Side Effects: Meet the Thoracodorsal Fascia

Have you seen those new compression garments athletes wear to try to improve performance? The idea is that by adding compression to the muscles, the ultratight shirts and pants will make the muscles contract better. This concept has been around for a while; it’s called fascia. Every muscle in your body is already surrounded by fascia that…read more

Laser Back Surgery vs. Traditional Spine Surgery

Is LASER surgery a back surgery alternative? The picture above of Dr. Evil is arguably the world’s most famous air quote. He does this as he describes the laser he has placed on the moon to disintegrate the earth. I feel a little like making this air quote as I speak to some patients about “LASER” Spine…read more

Back Fusion Outcome: Fusion Leads to Dead Multifidus

Decisions in Medicine like most things are based on risk vs. benefit.  There are life saving procedures and surgeries where the answer is clear, but in non emergency situations, are we doing greater good than harm?  A new study looks at the potential damage done to the multifidus in the common surgery, back fusion. So what is…read more

Does Spinal Fusion cause Cancer?

More low back fusion side effects?  I’m blogging from Rome where the Vatican stem cell conference begins tomorrow. My initial plan was to lay off the blogging this week and take a much needed break, but I just saw the MedPage article on BMP’s and cancer and thought it was too interesting to pass up. As a…read more