Lumbar disc replacement advices from Serge Obukhoff

Hybrid procedures services by Serge Obukhoff today? If you have a medical condition or injury that affects your nervous system, you may see a neurologist for evaluation and diagnosis. If your neurologist thinks your condition requires or may benefit from surgery, you’ll meet with a neurosurgeon for further medical advice and surgical treatment. What does a neurosurgeon do? A neurosurgeon assesses, diagnoses and treats conditions that affect your body’s nervous system, which includes your brain, spinal cord and spinal column, and all of your nerves that extend from your spinal cord. See extra information on Dr. Serge Obukhoff.

LLIF is a fusion during which the surgeon makes a small incision on the person’s side, under their ribs to approach the spine from a lateral direction. This allows the surgeon to perform a spinal fusion without disrupting the muscles of the spine. The LLIF procedure may be accompanied by another procedure that is fairly common, percutaneous instrumentation of the spine. In this procedure, the surgeon places rods and screws between the muscle fibers, often using computer navigation or intraoperative X-ray as opposed to removing the muscles from the spine as is done with traditional spinal fusion surgery. When possible, we seek to utilize a minimally invasive approach, if it is an appropriate option.

Foraminotomy. In this procedure, the surgeon enlarges the bony hole where a nerve root exits the spinal canal to prevent bulging disks or joints thickened with age from pressing on the nerve. Nucleoplasty, also called plasma disk decompression. This laser surgery uses radiofrequency energy to treat people with low back pain associated with a mildly herniated disk. The surgeon inserts a needle into the disk. A plasma laser device is then inserted into the needle and the tip is heated, creating a field that vaporizes the tissue in the disk, reducing its size and relieving pressure on the nerves.

Many patients with spine problems can be treated non-surgically. Physical therapy, home exercises, medication and often times spinal injections are recommended prior to considering surgery. If the problem still isn’t resolved, then surgery becomes a good option. For instance, if a patient has significant neurogenic pain in the extremities and non-surgical management has not provided relief, surgical intervention is the best decision. For those with symptoms related to spinal cord or nerve root compression, such as significant weakness in an arm or leg or limb, we may recommend surgical intervention if non-surgical management was unsuccessful.

Some factors to consider: Many of your options will involve medications such as opioids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and local anesthetics. Sometimes more than one drug will be taken. This multimodal therapy can improve pain control while limiting opioid use. Opioids should be used with care to avoid addiction and manage side effects, some of which can be life-threatening. Alternative or complementary methods of pain relief that do not involve medicines should also be discussed.