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Spine Study Examines Degeneration After Fusion Surgery For Scoliosis

About This Blog:

  • A study published in the medical journal Spinal Deformity examined the rate of disc degeneration in patients who underwent a spinal fusion for their adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
  • The study compared results immediately after surgery and 10 years after spinal surgery to determine the level of degeneration in the spine.
  • Dr. Mark Giovanini of NeuroMicroSpine explains what researchers found during the study.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a condition that causes an abnormal curve in the spine in late childhood. During development, a child’s spine naturally grows in a straight position. Children with scoliosis, however, develop a side-to-side curve in their spine that looks like an “S” or “C.” Idiopathic scoliosis means the condition does not have an identifiable cause. If left untreated, AIS can cause a number of health problems, including:

  • Back pain
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Difficulty functioning or moving
  • Shoulder and waistline asymmetry

A study published in the medical journal Spinal Deformity analyzed the chance of degeneration after spinal fusion for patients with AIS. As alluded to previously, the researchers followed 93 patients over the course of 154 months, and in some cases, 10 years after their surgeries. The researchers discovered the following:

  1. Ten years after surgery, 48% of patients experience disc degeneration.
  2. About 40% of patients experienced disc degeneration in the L5/S1 area of the spine, which is the lowest area of the lumbar spine that connects to the sacrum.
  3. Roughly 34% of the patients with spinal fusion at L1 reported disc degeneration.
  4. Disc degeneration was most common in patients who underwent surgery that required a lower instrumented vertebra placement.

If you’re a patient that is suffering from disc degeneration due to a previous surgical procedure for scoliosis, call Mark Giovanini of NeuroMicroSpine today! There is no need to suffer in silence any longer. Dr. Giovanini can customize the surgical procedure to meet your unique needs. Call NeuroMicroSpine today to make an appointment with Dr. Giovanini!

For more information on minimally invasive spine surgery or to make an appointment with Dr. Giovanini, please call (850) 934-7545 or visit https://www.neuromicrospine.com/request-appointment.

We hope to see you soon!

The advice and information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace or counter a physician’s advice or judgment. Please always consult your physician before taking any advice learned here or in any other educational medical material.