Complications of Anterior Discectomy – which side is better to operate on? The left or the right side of the neck?
Well, it appears based on the study below that each side of the neck is equally risky for complications.
Effect of approach side during anterior cervical discectomy and fusion on the incidence of recurrent laryngeal nerve [...]
Neck fusion surgery is becoming more common in the United States as insurance companies tend to reimburse surgeons at a higher rate for it compared with other neck surgeries.
However, neck fusion surgery has not been shown to be safer or more advantageous then non-fusion type neck surgery.
Complications such as death, infection, disability, and [...]
Surgical Tools at Two Hospitals Washed with Hydraulic Fluid
RALEIGH – Over two months last year, 3,800 patients at two hospitals run by Duke University Health System were exposed to surgery with instruments that were washed in hydraulic fluid instead of detergent, hospital regulators say.
Duke Health Raleigh (formerly Raleigh Community) and Durham Regional hospitals put [...]
Alzheimer’s Risk Increases After Coronary Bypass
Mental impairment is a known risk following coronary bypass surgery, and now researchers have found that the procedure may hasten the emergence of Alzheimer’s disease.
The results of a large study indicate that the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease within five years is 70 percent higher following coronary artery bypass grafting [...]
C5 Nerve Palsy after Neck Surgery
C5 palsy after decompression surgery for cervical myelopathy: review of the literature.
Neck surgery yields 5% C5 nerve palsy complication rate.
STUDY DESIGN: A literature review was conducted to integrate and compile available reports on postoperative C5 palsy.
OBJECTIVES: To review the clinical features, possible pathogenesis, and procedures for treatment and prevention [...]
Liposuction and Anesthesia
Experience with More Than 5,000 Cases in Which Monitored Anesthesia Care Was Used for Liposuction Surgery.
BACKGROUND. Conscious sedation using monitored anesthesia care can provide a clinical spectrum from relaxation to moderate anesthesia. This middle ground between general anesthesia and “pure” tumescent liposuction can help facilitate patient comfort and surgical proficiency during the liposuction [...]
Gastric Bypass Surgery Pros and Cons
Florida’s largest health insurer backs away from covering stomach-stapling procedures, citing safety concerns amid a marketing bonanza.
Gastric bypass surgery, the stomach-stapling procedure that has been embraced in South Florida and around the nation, won’t be covered after this year for members of Florida’s largest health insurer.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield [...]
Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS): What Is It?
Severe, persistent back pain with or without radicular pain following back surgery is often referred to as Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS).
The failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) is a difficult diagnostic problem. The most frequent causes were a not indicated or contraindicated operation; a wrong [...]
Does Lumbar Disc Surgery Cause Female Osteoporosis?
This prospective study evaluated 60 reproductive-age and post-menopausal women with lumbar disc disease to demonstrate the short-term effects of lumbar disc surgery on bone mineral density (BMD).
Lumbar bone mineral density was measured preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Surgery was performed at only one [...]
Lumbar Arthrodesis Complications in Older Patients
Perioperative complications of posterior lumbar decompression and arthrodesis in older adults.
Carreon LY, Puno RM, Dimar JR 2nd, Glassman SD, Johnson JR.
Norton Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
BACKGROUND: Lumbar arthrodesis is commonly done in elderly patients to treat degenerative spine problems. These patients may be at increased risk for complications because of [...]
Spinal Fusion Surgery Scandal
Greed: Your Spinal Surgeon May Be Performing Fusion Surgery Inappropriately!
Spinal fusion has emerged as the treatment of choice for many kinds of unrelenting back pain. A quarter million of the procedures, in which metal rods are screwed into the spine to stabilize it, were performed this year in the United States, three [...]
