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Old 01-26-2014, 08:51 PM
bwink23 bwink23 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Surprised 1 View Post
Somewhere along the decision making path I read "they don't fuse hips or knees why fuse the spine?" Makes sense to me.


VERY GOOD POINT!! It is a mobile segment and is intended to be that way...that's how we were designed. Fusions do have their place and there are many success stories(and many horrific ones). Disc degeneration at adjacent levels due to fusion is very REAL, and surgeons will acknowledge that themselves. Some locations are more harmful to fuse than others. There are many posters here who had prior fusions, only to find themselves in need of more surgery for DDD to other levels. One spine surgeon i saw didn't even want to recommend a 2-level fusion to me, and he knew i needed it. Any chance to conserve your natural discs is a chance worth taking. ADR's can be revised and have been....fusions are permanent.

As a future Hybrid patient of fusion/ADR....I have read literature that results are comparable or better from a fusion at L5/S1 and an ADR at L4/L5 as opposed to an ADR at each level. So fusions, not ideal, are not a death sentence. Competitive athletes have gotten them for years and continued to compete at a high level.
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