|
Lumbar Laminectomy and Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF):
Press Release
Healthcare professionals and public audiences from around the globe are invited to watch real time through the web as internationally recognized spine specialists from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia demonstrate a lumbar laminectomy and a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, or TLIF. Performed to alleviate severe, chronic lower back and leg pain associated with herniated discs, degenerative disk disease, scoliosis, and other related conditions, the procedures will be broadcast real time via webcast on Wednesday, November 15, 2006, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 pm. All viewers will be able to ask questions online during the surgery and physicians can earn CME credit.
James Harrop, M.D., assistant professor of Neurological Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University, and Todd J. Albert, M.D., professor and vice-chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, will perform the procedures as Dr. Albert narrates. The two surgeons are members of a team of leading experts from the departments of Neurological Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery which comprise Jefferson’s Spine Program, one of the busiest in the country exclusively dedicated to treating patients with disorders of the spine and spinal cord.
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), 80 percent of the population will be affected by back pain at some point in their lives, and of these, 85 percent will report the lower back as their primary site of pain. As the second leading cause of absenteeism from work, after the common cold (AAOS), and the second most common medical complaint in the U.S. (New England Journal of Medicine), it is no surprise that doctors have strived to develop innovative treatments for this widespread, debilitating ailment. When more conservative treatments such as anti-inflammatory medications and physical therapy do not help, surgery becomes an option.
A lumbar laminectomy, or lumbar decompression, is performed to treat spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal that puts pressure on the nerves in the lower back, which causes symptoms in nearly 500,000 Americans over the age of 50. Used to manage related conditions involving deformities of the vertebrae, such as spondylolisthesis or scoliosis, a transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) is an innovative, sometimes safer, more efficient alternative to other anterior and posterior-approach fusion procedures. Both conditions cause pain and weakness in the lower back and legs, leading to walking difficulty in many patients. The conditions occur as people age because ligaments around the spine thicken and the discs, or cushions, between the vertebrae start to deteriorate.
During the surgery, an incision will be made in the patient’s back, but surgeons will approach the spine from the side, minimizing the nerve manipulation required to access the vertebrae, discs and nerves. They will remove bone and ligament from the spine to open the spinal canal and relieve pressure on the nerve roots which has been caused by stenosis.
Next, the surgeons will perform a TLIF to fuse the spine where one vertebra has slipped forward onto the vertebra below it. (This generally occurs with spondylolisthesis, but in the case of the webcast patient it has been caused by complications from scoliosis.) Some vertebral bone will be removed to reduce nerve exposure, and then the pain-causing disc will be taken out. A spacer and bone from the patient’s extracted vertebra will then be manipulated to fuse the two surrounding vertebrae together. Finally, rods and screws will be put in place to support the spine over the next several months as bone generates and connects to the vertebra.
Most patients are out of bed and walking the morning after surgery, and typically spend three to five days in the hospital. After discharge, they require three to six months of outpatient rehabilitation, but are able to care for themselves at home with the exception of heavy lifting. Generally after six months, patients are able to do any type of activity excluding those that pose high physical risk.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has major programs for heart disease, cancer treatment, neuroscience, high-risk childbirth, genetics, radiology, orthopaedics, digestive diseases and many other areas of medicine and surgery. It is one of only a few hospitals in the United States that is both a Level I Trauma Center and a federally designated regional spinal cord injury center. Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center is designated as a clinical cancer center by the National Cancer Institute.
For more information or to make an appointment, please call 1-800-JEFF-NOW.
|
