Home | Contents | Search | Physicians | Contact Us

Medical and Surgical Treatments The best treatment for each patient must be based on an accurate diagnosis. Although it is appealing to have the latest procedure, the newest medication, the smallest micro-surgery or arthroscopic surgery, best treatment must be appropriate for each individual patient’s condition. Treatment must also be based on scientific evidence, not marketing on television or in news magazines. At SpineCare, we pride ourselves on making correct and complete diagnoses, and then offering our patients the most effective treatment for their unique problems. We cannot jump at the latest fad, things that have not been proven to work. Our patients and our reputation mean too much for that. Spine surgery must be taken seriously. It is imperative to select the right procedure for the right patient at the right time. Many of the terms discussed here are also defined in the SpineCare glossary and illustrated in the section on anatomy. Neck Surgery Most spine surgeons perform fusion when they remove a disc from the neck. However, some surgeons feel fusion is not needed. We feel patients do better with fusion because they then keep the normal curve, which may be lost if no fusion is done. For most problems, disc removal and fusion is performed from the front of the neck, although there are rare times a fusion through the back of the neck is necessary. Neck Fusions Neck surgery has been proven successful for disc herniations that put pressure on a nerve and cause arm pain, and for spinal stenosis with pressure on the spinal cord. However, there is controversy regarding the role of neck surgery for pain in the neck. In our experience, this type of surgery is very successful for one or two level disc degeneration. The following is a summary of our findings at SpineCare. Anterior discectomy and fusion for the treatment of neck pain. Authors: Mark Palit, MD, Jerome Schofferman, MD, Noel Goldthwaite MD, James Reynolds, MD, Mark Kerner, MD, Diane Keaney RN, Lisa Lawrence-Miyasaki, RN. We evaluated 38 patients who underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) for neck pain with little or no symptoms or signs of radiculopathy or myelopathy. Results: All 38 patients were available for follow-up. Mean age was 42 years. Mean duration of follow-up was 53 months. All patients had painful disc(s) proven by discography. No patients had nerve root compression. ACDF was performed at one level in 21 patients, two levels in 16 patients, and three levels in one patient. Mean Pain level before surgery was 8.3 vs. 4.1 after surgery. Mean function score was 57.5 before surgery vs. 39 after. There were 30 (79%) patients who were satisfied with their outcome and eight who were not satisfied.

Copyright © 1997–2006 by SpineCare Medical Group. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer.