Bone graft

[progress]

Hi all,
I'm wondering how many of you who have had surgery had bone taken from the iliac crest? I really didn't want that but at the last hr had a sudden fear of non fusion so told my Dr to do whatever he felt would give me the best chance of a successful outcome. I had both donor bone and bone from the iliac. There is only the main posterior incision, he took the bone by skipping across while in there.'(Fused to L3). My lower right side of my back is still numb ( I gather this is from the bone taken). I am 7 weeks post-op and up to recently all my right side front and back was tender (this was my concave side). As things have improved I notice an ocassional dull ache towards the centre back on my iliac. Disturbingly I notice this sometimes when I walk. I am terrified of this pain remaining. How have others gone who have had iliac grafting? Also does the bone grow back? (Couldn't face asking that at the time). I think I have had such a good recovery so I'm waiting for something bad to happen.

[LindaRacine]

Hi...

The bone will not grow back.

I think it's too early to tell whether you'll have a permenant issue. One of the docs here at UCSF did an informal survey of patients after they started taking the iliac crest graft through the central incision. When patients complained that they thought they had pain from the bone graft, she would ask which side hurt. In a significant percentage of cases, the patient named the side opposite of where the graft was taken. What that told her is that spine surgery can cause pain in the area of the iliac crest, and that it's not necessarily from the graft.

Regards,
Linda

[ADMoul]

I did not have any bone graft, just the BMP. Have always had some pain and tenderness around the iliac crest and it can be noticeable when you're walking. It has gotten much better and my physical therapist gave me some stretches to help with it. Mine is only sore on the concave side too. I think some of it is due to muscles being stretched and re-configured after being compressed for so long. Like everything else, I think it will get better with time.

[Lorz]

Anne,
How have you been doing since you had the pelvic anchor removed? Did it resolve the pain issues? Did it ever cause sciatic type pain? Hope you are feeling better!

[leannebr]

re: bone graft

I had all allograft donor bone on the iliac crest. Mine is still pretty sore at 11 months out. The bone actually grew bigger there after my surgery so I have a bump. It didnt look that way inititally, it took some time to grow. Seemed weird and bothers me just because it is donor bone. My Dr said he had no idea why it did that.

[JenniferG]

How have you been doing Leanne?

[progress]

I did not have any bone graft, just the BMP. Have always had some pain and tenderness around the iliac crest and it can be noticeable when you're walking. It has gotten much better and my physical therapist gave me some stretches to help with it. Mine is only sore on the concave side too. I think some of it is due to muscles being stretched and re-configured after being compressed for so long. Like everything else, I think it will get better with time.

That's interesting, yes my whole right (previously concave side felt like it had been hit by a bus but the other side felt pretty normal from the start, except i now had a hip where there was none before. Do you think most of the work is done on the concave side?
Kelly
49 yrs
fused T9 to L3
55 deg thorocolumbar

[progress]

I had all allograft donor bone on the iliac crest. Mine is still pretty sore at 11 months out. The bone actually grew bigger there after my surgery so I have a bump. It didnt look that way inititally, it took some time to grow. Seemed weird and bothers me just because it is donor bone. My Dr said he had no idea why it did that.

That's strange, what do you mean by donor bone on the iliac crest?
I'm wondering why Dr Cree still uses the iliac crest with donor bone when others on this forum haven't had iliac crest bone used. When I discussed not using the iliac bone Dr Cree seemed a bit concerned and said it would probably be ok but preferred to use the iliac for fusion. At first I said I'll go with the probably ok but the night before surgery panicked and told him to do what he thought best. I was also swayed by him telling me he could go through the same incision. I hope I made the right decision. I got a practically perfect correction but am still numb on the lower right side (concave side and the side of the graft. It also get sore around my right bum cheek on and off when I walk for a while. Overall my recovery has been good but wonder if it would have been any different without the iliac graft. Any others feel similar at 8 weeks post-op?
Kelly
49 yrs
T10 to L3

[LindaRacine]

Hi Kelly...

I was also confused about Leanne's statement "I had all allograft donor bone on the iliac crest."

I had pain in my right butt cheek for a few months after surgery, and kept having to remind myself that the iliac bolt was on the left side. And, I did not have any bone taken from my iliac crest during this surgery, so the pain must have come from what was done for my fusion. Hang in there. opefully it will get a lot better very soon.

Regards,
Linda

[BendyBill]

I asked my surgeon's senior registrar if they would be taking bone from my hip and seem to remember him telling me that they will actually be taking it off part of the vertebrae. Is this correct? Does anyone else know about this?

B

[LindaRacine]

Hi Billy...

When fusion surgery is done posteriorly, some of the posterior elements of the vertebrae are usually removed to facilitate fusion. That bone is referred to as local bone, and is morselized, and placed over the fusion area.

You can see an animation of the procedure here:
http://www.spine-health.com/video/sp...-surgery-video

In the 2nd step, you'll see the lamina removed.

Linda

[Elisa]

Hi Billy...

When fusion surgery is done posteriorly, some of the posterior elements of the vertebrae are usually removed to facilitate fusion. That bone is referred to as local bone, and is morselized, and placed over the fusion area.

You can see an animation of the procedure here:
http://www.spine-health.com/video/sp...-surgery-video

In the 2nd step, you'll see the lamina removed.

Linda

This sounds similar to what was done with my son. Dr. K told me that during his first surgery (posterior release) bone was taken, crushed and saved for his second surgery/fusion four weeks later.

[leannebr]

Sounds like I need to clarify what I had done. During my spinal fusion ( t-2 to t-12 ) almost 1 year ago, my surgeon took bone from my iliac crest ( if thats what the area just above my right butt cheek just below my hip is called ) and he used this in my spine. He then used allograft/donor bone to replace this in my iliac crest/ cheek hip area. The area where I have the donor bone grew bigger and more predominant and there is a bump there. It is still sore inside to the touch. It is worse when the weather is colder. Yes, my situtation is different, as I'm finding in nearly every aspect of my surgery it seems.