Spinal Fusion Surgery in New Jersey

The bones of your adult spine consist of 26 moveable joints. When these bones rub together or slip out of place, it causes pain and instability. If your back pain isn’t relieved by other forms of treatment, your doctor may recommend spinal fusion. During this procedure, your doctor attaches two or more vertebrae together to permanently stop movement between them, which prevents pain at the joint level.

To obtain the most effective back pain treatment, you must first obtain an accurate diagnosis of the cause of your pain so you can receive the best treatment. Consult New Jersey’s top spine specialists at Premier Brain & Spine for the best back pain diagnosis and treatment.

Your New Jersey orthopedics specialist may recommend spinal fusion surgery to reduce pain, correct a deformity or improve mobility.
Conditions that often benefit from spinal surgery include:

• Spinal stenosis. This condition involves narrowing of your spinal canal, which may lead to compression of the spinal cord.
• Spinal tumors. Tumors or cysts in the spine may lead to spinal instability.
• Spinal fractures and compression fractures. Spinal fractures happen because of trauma or underlying conditions that weaken the bones.
• Spondylolisthesis. This is a condition in which a vertebra slips forward and presses on your spinal cord.
• Abnormal spinal curvatures. Conditions such as scoliosis and kyphosis cause abnormal curvatures in your spine.
• Degenerative disc disease. This condition is caused by wear and tear on your spinal discs.

Spinal fusion surgery isn’t the first treatment option your spine physician usually recommends. You may want to consider it, however, if more conservative options — such as physical therapy, medications or spinal injections — don’t relieve your pain.

During an interbody fusion, your surgeon removes a damaged spinal disc. The location in your spine determines whether you need lumbar spinal fusion, cervical spinal fusion or sacroiliac fusion. Depending on the area that needs treatment, the spine expert chooses the procedure that provides the best way to access your spine.

For example, the types of lumbar interbody fusion include:

• Anterior lumbar interbody fusion. In this procedure, the surgeon accesses your spine from your abdominal area. This is also called anterior lumbar fusion or ALIF surgery.
• Lateral lumbar interbody fusion. The surgeon accesses the intervertebral disc from the side. This is also known as XLIF surgery.
• Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion and posterior lumbar interbody fusion. The surgeon accesses your spine from your back or posterior for these procedures.

The right procedure for you depends on the location of the discs that need removal. You doctor may combine spinal fusion with another spinal surgery, such as a discectomy.

One your NJ spine surgeon determines the best point of entry, the fusion surgery begins. Spinal fusion surgery involves using a type of bone material called a bone graft. A bone graft may be taken from your body, which is known as an autograft, or from a donor body, which is called an allograft.

The steps of the procedure include:

1. You’re given general anesthesia.
2. An incision is made to access the vertebrae being fused.
3. If your own bone is being used for the bone graft, a small part of bone is removed from another area of your body, usually the pelvis, and that incision is closed.
4. Muscles and tissue are pulled aside to expose your spine.
5. The damaged disc is removed, and the bone graft material is placed in the interbody space between vertebrae, where the disc used to be.
6. The vertebrae may be held together using screws, plates, rods or cages, which are also called interbody devices. These devices stabilize your spine while the fusion grows together.

The procedure usually takes three to four hours. The bone graft stimulates new bone to grow around the interbody device, which eventually leads to the two vertebrae healing together into one continuous bone.

Patients Experience

At one time, spinal fusion was major surgery that involved a lengthy operation. Minimally invasive techniques have been developed that now allow your surgeon to use 3D technology and tiny instruments.

A minimally invasive approach provides several advantages, such as:

• Smaller incisions
• Less bleeding or scarring
• Less post-operative pain
• A lower risk of infection
• Shorter hospital stays
• Faster recovery times

The sacroiliac joint is the point where the base of your spine connects to your pelvis. As many as 30 percent of cases of low back pain come from this joint. Your doctor may recommend sacroiliac joint fusion surgery if you have instability or significant pain in your pelvis or lower back area. Minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion surgery stops excessive motion of the joint and reduces pain with a less extensive recovery process than traditional open surgery.

You may need to stay in the hospital for two or three days. You may experience some pain and discomfort, but it’s usually controlled with medication.

Once released, contact your NJ spine center if you experience any signs of infections such as:

• A fever higher than 100.4 degrees
• Chills
• Redness
• Swelling

The fusion process takes time, and full recovery may take several months. You may need to wear a brace on a short-term basis. Your doctor may recommend physical therapy to improve strength and range of motion and to teach you how to move in ways that keep your spine properly aligned.

There are many possible causes and treatment options for back problems. If you have persistent pain in your back or neck that affects one or two vertebrae that hasn’t been relieved with nonsurgical methods, you may be a candidate for spinal fusion.

People of all ages suffering from lower back pain now have hope thanks to minimally invasive spinal instability treatment. Call us at (866) 590-0601 for more information about sacroiliac joint fusion surgery or to book an in-person consultation with one of our best-rated spine orthopedics surgeon. You may also visit our neurosurgery center to learn why so many of our patients rate us as the top surgeons New Jersey specializing in cervical, lumbar, and sacroiliac joint fusion surgery to treat abnormalities with the small bones in the spine.