I have a Grade II (50%) slipped disk as L5-S1 that I have been living with for about 10 years and it's getting worse, I have a "pars" defect which makes a slipped disc in this area common. I have had numerous spinal surgeries including two cervical fusions and this area was operated on by an orthopedic 3 years ago but was not fused.
I have done the PT, Celebrex, weight loss and spinal injections & nerve blocks for 2.5 years since the pain returned and now the injections are no longer effective so I am talking to Neurologist now about surgical options.
This doctor thinks I can get another 10-12 years out of the L4-L5 level so he wants to do only a single level, but he wants to do what appears to me to be a "double" fusion on this L5-S1 area. A Vascular surgeon will open me up right under my stomach and push aside/remove any organs until the front of my spine is exposed so the neurologist can install a metal Cage. Then after putting it back together & sewing me up they will roll me over on my back and cut there to install plates & rods in the rear of my spine, using a robotic arm & software to select where the screws will be placed. A cadaver bone plug will be shaped, soaked in stem cells extracted from my body and used as a spacer between the two vertebra once what remains of the disk is removed. The neurosurgeon claims this procedure has a success rate in the 90% range which is very good for spinal surgery, but my pain specialist says those numbers might not apply 5 years down the line and he has many lumbar "Cage failure" patients.
Has anyone had this procedure before, and if so what were the results? This doctor operates at the Texas Orthopedic & Spine Hospital, different from the Texas Orthopedic Hospital in the Medical Center which I will NEVER go to again! I would also appreciate any referrals for neurosurgeons who specialize in lumbar surgery as I want another opinion or two before I set my date. There is no question the surgery needs to be done, its this "front & rear" fusion approach, especially the cage, that worries me.
I have done the PT, Celebrex, weight loss and spinal injections & nerve blocks for 2.5 years since the pain returned and now the injections are no longer effective so I am talking to Neurologist now about surgical options.
This doctor thinks I can get another 10-12 years out of the L4-L5 level so he wants to do only a single level, but he wants to do what appears to me to be a "double" fusion on this L5-S1 area. A Vascular surgeon will open me up right under my stomach and push aside/remove any organs until the front of my spine is exposed so the neurologist can install a metal Cage. Then after putting it back together & sewing me up they will roll me over on my back and cut there to install plates & rods in the rear of my spine, using a robotic arm & software to select where the screws will be placed. A cadaver bone plug will be shaped, soaked in stem cells extracted from my body and used as a spacer between the two vertebra once what remains of the disk is removed. The neurosurgeon claims this procedure has a success rate in the 90% range which is very good for spinal surgery, but my pain specialist says those numbers might not apply 5 years down the line and he has many lumbar "Cage failure" patients.
Has anyone had this procedure before, and if so what were the results? This doctor operates at the Texas Orthopedic & Spine Hospital, different from the Texas Orthopedic Hospital in the Medical Center which I will NEVER go to again! I would also appreciate any referrals for neurosurgeons who specialize in lumbar surgery as I want another opinion or two before I set my date. There is no question the surgery needs to be done, its this "front & rear" fusion approach, especially the cage, that worries me.
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