Outdated Technique in Spine Surgery | Dr. Todd Lanman
If your spine surgeon suggests this outdated surgical technique, you may want to ask them a few questions.
A spine fusion with a standalone device commonly results in non-unions, meaning the two bones don’t heal properly. This is often overlooked in X-rays because a CAT scan is the only way to identify non-union. It happens because there’s insufficient support to hold the two bones together. These devices allow too much mobility, making the fusion more likely to fail.