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Live Broadcast of Scoliosis Surgery

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  • #31
    Gayle, when you watched it with dial up, was the video sort of blurry and more like still shots, one after the other? Or is that the way it is with high speed too? Anyway, the visual was a little hard for me to really focus on, but I could see some. The verbal by the doctors was very informative, except I was wishing they referred to adult surgery some. It was almost like the attitude was that it was too late later in life. I too would have liked to see how they put in the bone graft, but an hour wasn't enough. They didn't explain that part enough and I was wondering about the long bars you could see. Do they come out after the surgery is all done? Are they part of the tools to get the spine in the best position and get the grafts inserted? Then the screws and pins are tightened?

    I wonder if there is any other video or even photos or a book, of all the steps in this current type of surgery. Anyone know?
    Berta
    Berta in Hawaii

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    • #32
      Hi Berta....

      There are all of those things. The book "Scoliosis Surgery The Definitive Patient Reference" is excellent. You can purchase it on this website, or directly from the author at http://www.curvedspine.com.

      I have links to other good scoliosis websites, including other surgery videos, at http://www.scoliosislinks.com.

      The "bars" you asked about are the rods that are used to straighten the spine. While they're really only there to hold the spine in place while fusion takes place, they are normally not removed unless there is a problem. You can see a picture of an xray with the rods and screws in place, here:

      http://www.espine.com/scoliosis-research.gif

      Regards,
      Linda
      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

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      • #33
        Hi Linda,

        Thanks for that info. For some reason I thought the newer method used screws and pins instead of solid rods. It must be quite a bit different then the old Harrington rod then, right? Or is it just attached different? So the rods go thru the pedicle screws? I need to study this!
        Berta
        Berta in Hawaii

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        • #34
          Hi Berta...

          Essentially, the difference between Harrington rods and the current posterior implant systems is that Harrington rods (usually only 1 rod) only attached at the top and bottom of the rod, with hooks. And, Harrington rods were not bent to give patients the normal front to back curves of kyphosis and lordosis. You can see xrays of both Harrington rods and current implants here:

          http://www.spineuniverse.com/display...rticle614.html

          Hooks and screws are attached to the spine. At the top of each hook or screw, there is a channel through which the rod is placed and secured down. You can see a close up picture of how that works here:

          http://tristan.membrane.com/aona/video/spine/25029.html

          Regards,
          Linda
          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

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          • #35
            I finally saw the video. It was not so bad to watch because they were not really showing you the part where they make the incision and the whole surgery itself from the beginning to the end. I have seen one patient's story and surgery and post-op on iscoliosis.com and that was more emotionaly hard to watch than the surgery itself, atleast I felt that way.

            I feel that it was harder for me to watch the patient's recovery and ost-op expirience than the surgery itself.

            One other thing I want to say is that when they showed the powerpoint slides and how the pedicle screw is placed in to the bone and how close it gets to the spinal cord - now that was really amazing but scary at the same time. I felt that it is so close to the spinal cord and looked more riskier than it probably is.

            Well, thanks Linda for letting us know about the surgery. I am glad they said that in the next ten years they are probably going to be using the BMP only and that is great because I was really excited in that too but my doctor said that it was not necesarry at the time I was considering having the surgery..

            Mariya
            30 yrs, mom to two girls ages 9 and 7
            8/9/04 - 18* thoracic and 42* lumbar
            3/7/06 - 22* thoracic and 45* lumbar (38*kyphosis)
            4/8/08 - 38* thoracic and 50-52* lumbar (54* kyphosis)

            2007 - Scheduled surgery but cancelled due to no major health issues at the time.
            2011 - Back pain, spasms, sciatica, difficulty doing any physical work/activities w/o following back pain and spasms. Revisiting surgery decision and soon to schedule a doctors appointment to determine the progression since 2008.

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            • #36
              Well, I finally got to view the webcast with high speed and what a difference!
              I'm also reading and comprehending better now the section in Scoliosis Surgery, The Definitive Patient's Reference, about instrumentation. Now I'm concerned about the two type metals since I tend to be an allergic person. Apparently, some people are allergic to the nickel in the stainless steel rod and the titanium rod has it's disadvantage being that it can go back to it's original shape and it's not quite as strong. What are the screws made of?
              Which is being used most and which is best!!?? (Linda?)
              Those that have had surgery, what are your experiences?
              Berta
              Berta in Hawaii

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