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I thought that I had my spinef fused, But NO!?
a year ago I had my spine fused. I have seen the hardware on X-ray, and I have a picture of it at home.
Today because the fusion has failed and all the original pain has returned I saw a New Doctor the previous surgeon has retired. A the New Dr. looked at the X-Rays and MRI's he could see the hardware of course. THERE WAS NO SIGN OF A FUSION. Nothing. Just hardware.
He is ordering a CT scan of course, but could there ever be a reason for a World Class Surgeon at a Huge Boston Hospital to just use hardware and no fusion ? I am stunned.
NO bones were added! nothing! NO fusion of any sort! JUST HARD WARE!
Not plastic, not human , not pig bones, Just hardware.
No I don't smoke never have.
re read the question please first answer .
Oh dear..............
1 Answer
- David BLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
As you may know, the hardware only holds the segments of spine still while the fused segments grow together. After the bone heals solid, the hardware does nothing.
In smokers, each level of fusion has approx. 10% chance of not growing together. Example: a 3 level fusion, L3-S1 would have a 30 % chance of not healing in a smoker! Did you have several levels fused? Are you a smoker?? Did your surgeon use your own bone graft to do the fusion? All of these issues need to be discussed when you go over the results of your CT scan with your provider.
In my book, a surgeon who would put in plates, screws or other devices without attempting to do a bone graft or fusion, would be a form of malpractice. All metal devices will break over time, after enough stress cycles are put on them. Your surgeon should have a good explanation to give you as to why it was not done.