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PLEASE! I NEED HELP! [Removing the hardware or not?]

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  • #16
    Linda can answer better but I can tell you what I think is the case.

    Originally posted by richardis View Post
    I will grab this thread to ask some questions:

    1.Do rods prevent kyphosis in the fused area?
    As far as I know, pedicle screw constructs tend to be hypokyphosing.

    If they do not prevent kyphosis in the fused area removing rods may be a good choice for those left with flat-back after surgery.
    I think flat-back refers to the loss of sagittal curve in the lumbar. Thus it is irrelevant to your fusion.

    2. Do rods prevent proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) or distal junctional kyphosis (DJK)?
    PJK and DJK ONLY potentially occur in fused patients.

    Sorry for the dumb question.
    There are no dumb questions.
    Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

    No island of sanity.

    Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
    Answer: Medicine


    "We are all African."

    Comment


    • #17
      Originally posted by richardis View Post
      I will grab this thread to ask some questions:

      1.Do rods prevent kyphosis in the fused area?
      If they do not prevent kyphosis in the fused area removing rods may be a good choice for those left with flat-back after surgery.

      2. Do rods prevent proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) or distal junctional kyphosis (DJK)?

      Sorry for the dumb question.
      1) No, and I don't understand what you're saying about removing rods helping with flatback. That doesn't make sense.

      2) No
      Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
      Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

      Comment


      • #18
        Originally posted by LindaRacine View Post
        1) No, and I don't understand what you're saying about removing rods helping with flatback.
        I am not saying I am hypothesizing.

        Can I ask you the same two questions for the other alternative, that is, " removing rods "?

        Comment


        • #19
          why do you say that rods don't prevent kyphosis on the fused area? You don't know if removing the rods would accelerate or aggravate the kyphosis. Maybe rods do not prevent it but slow the evolution of kyphosis.

          I am just theorizing.

          Comment


          • #20
            Originally posted by Pooka1 View Post

            I think flat-back refers to the loss of sagittal curve in the lumbar. Thus it is irrelevant to your fusion.
            I am with normal thoracic kyphosis now. I am more kyphotic than before my surgery because I was hypokyphotic.

            Comment


            • #21
              Originally posted by richardis View Post
              I am with normal thoracic kyphosis now. I am more kyphotic than before my surgery because I was hypokyphotic.
              Perfect.

              Do you feel any different before and after a T3-T10 fusion in terms of flexibility? My daughters are fused T4-L1 and feel no loss in flexibility before and after surgery.
              Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

              No island of sanity.

              Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
              Answer: Medicine


              "We are all African."

              Comment


              • #22
                Originally posted by Pooka1 View Post
                Perfect.

                Do you feel any different before and after a T3-T10 fusion in terms of flexibility? My daughters are fused T4-L1 and feel no loss in flexibility before and after surgery.
                I am still afraid to stress my back. I can only say that my flexibility in terms of rotating the thorax seems more limited. But I am still testing it. My muscles are hypotonic in that area and some hypertonic. My curve was thoracic and the thorax is mainly responsible for lateral rotation.

                I would say that forward flexion is the same, backward flexion is different. Before I could make my back flat. I used to have flat-back posture, not flat-back syndrome. But I would like to see your answers to this on a thread I opened earlier today.

                Comment


                • #23
                  http://www.spine-health.com/forum/di...fusion-surgery

                  in the link above you can find some testimonials and opinions

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Originally posted by richardis View Post
                    But I would like to see your answers to this on a thread I opened earlier today.
                    Hi. I don't see that thread. Specifically, I don't see a new thread you started earlier today. Can you please post the link?
                    Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

                    No island of sanity.

                    Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
                    Answer: Medicine


                    "We are all African."

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Originally posted by richardis View Post
                      http://www.spine-health.com/forum/di...fusion-surgery

                      in the link above you can find some testimonials and opinions
                      I know nothing about rod removal beyond what I hear in testimonials and in the few papers I have read.

                      I can say I recall an article showing much more deterioration in the curve (especially in the transverse/axial plane if I recall correctly) than previously thought. So people with whacking large rotation like my one daughter probably should think twice about ever removing the hardware was my take home message from that.

                      My daughters claim they do not feel the hardware. They claim they feel normal with a normal range of motion. Note that their normal is not normal-normal because they didn't have a normal-normal range of motion with their huge curves. Unless they develop some infection at a very late date (they were fused in 2008 and 2009 and have zero indication of infection in all that time), they will likely never have their hardware removed.
                      Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

                      No island of sanity.

                      Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
                      Answer: Medicine


                      "We are all African."

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Removing “ALL” hardware seems like such a radical answer to a pain problem. (Unless there is an infection)

                        There was a girl who had all her hardware removed years ago on the Brit forum, but she stopped posting.....I don’t remember anyone here at NSF having complete removal other than a 12 yr old girl who had her 316LVM hardware rust beyond belief after a few months.... The photo that the mother posted was one I will never forget. This was a rare event. Sharon, do you remember this? I didn’t save the link or photo. The mother posted once or twice.

                        I don’t feel my hardware...

                        Ed
                        49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
                        Pre surgery curves T70,L70
                        ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
                        Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

                        Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
                        http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

                        My x-rays
                        http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

                        http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Ed I don't recall that post. It was rusted after only a few months??? How does that happen?
                          Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

                          No island of sanity.

                          Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
                          Answer: Medicine


                          "We are all African."

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Yes....rust or some sort of extreme biofilm.....The biofilm process happens quickly after surgery. Her hardware looked like a rusty anchor.....
                            https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3841941/

                            Stainless steel does rust, you just cant see it with the naked eye. That’s why its commonly passivated in a Nitric acid dip process especially for vacuum applications.
                            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passivation_(chemistry)

                            316LVM ASTM F138 is the surgical grade. The ASTM spec tightens inspection and adds more Chrome over regular 316 stainless.

                            Sometimes, a coating process will be utilized on hardware.....which I have limited knowledge of,(medical industry trade secrets) titanium hardware will commonly have a “Tiodize” process, similar to an anodizing process used on aluminum..... This is how titanium is color coated.

                            In the human body, all the rules change.....it’s a completely different playing field.

                            Ed
                            49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
                            Pre surgery curves T70,L70
                            ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
                            Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

                            Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
                            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

                            My x-rays
                            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

                            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Removing select implants can be effective in resolving specific localized pain. An injection over the painful area can confirm whether or not a specific implant is causing the pain. While I've read posts from people who were planning to have their implants completely removed, I don't think I ever heard of anyone who got good pain relief from having all of their implants removed. And, there is a risk of having both quick and slow progression of curves.
                              Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
                              ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
                              Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Removing Hardware and PSO

                                LindaRacine
                                First diagnosis today calls for removal of hardware from lumbar spine surgeries in 2008 & 2010 and a PEDICLE SUBTRACTION OSTEOTOMY and bone wedge taken out of my spine. I could then be upright and once again be able to walk again. What do you know about this kind of procedure? Karen from Sarasota but at consultations in New York.

                                Comment

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