An Amazing Advance in Spinal Fusion Baltimore MD

It has long been possible for orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons to stabilize unstable spines using a spinal fusion Baltimore MD surgical procedure. This has been a possibility for patients for the greater part of the last century.  There are a number of reasons for an individual's spine to possibly become unstable, including injury, a genetic disorder like Scoliosis, or simply as a result of the effects of age-related conditions like osteoporosis.  The spinal fusion operation is performed by connecting two or more of the vertebrae, which are the small, bony structures that are stacked on top of one another, into a single piece of bone.

Spinal Fusion Surgery and Bone Grafts

One of the most important things to know about this spinal operation is that bone grafting material is needed to make the individual vertebrae fuse as necessary.  This where it is possible to be amazed by very recent scientific breakthroughs.

In the past, the medical team performing a spinal fusion surgery Baltimore had to somehow procure bone grafting material to place in the spine and subsequently facilitate the fusing of the identified bone structures.  The oldest method of procuring grafting material was to utilize some from the body of the surgical patient.  It is called an autograft.  The donor material was usually taken from the femur, which is the long bone that supports the upper leg, or thigh.  The autograft process was effective, but painful for the patient.  Many patients complained that the surgical site from which the graft was obtained was even more painful and took longer to heal than the actual spine surgery site.

Medical advances eventually made it possible to utilize donor material from a cadaver.  This spared the patient a second surgical site, and was successful in many cases.  This procedure, called an allograft, did have some drawbacks.  Sometimes, the donor bone material was not compatible with the patient and it did not function to fuse the vertebrae.

Scientists have now learned to use a minuscule amount of a patient's own bone material to grow more bone grafting tissue in a laboratory environment.  This method is currently in use to help people who have suffered devastating bone breaks in accidents.  It shows promise for spine surgeries and many other medical applications.