Spinal fusion, also called spondylodesis or spondylosyndesis, is a surgical procedure performed by orthopedic or neurosurgeons that joins two or more vertebrae, eliminating movement between the fused segments, and it can be performed at any level of the spine, cervical, thoracic, lumbar or sacral. The surgery typically uses bone grafting, taken from the patient, from a donor or from an artificial substitute, to help the vertebrae heal together, often supplemented with screws, plates or cages placed with the aid of fluoroscopy, navigation systems or robotic assistance. Its most frequent indication is pain and pressure from degenerative disc disease, and it also treats spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, spondylosis, spinal fracture, scoliosis and kyphosis, or serves as a fallback when a patient's anatomy is unsuited to total disc replacement; risks include infection, blood loss and nerve damage, and a significant long-term complication is degeneration of the spinal segments adjacent to the fusion, caused by the altered biomechanics of the spine.
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1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_fusion, lead sectionQuote, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_fusion, lead section
Spinal fusion, also called spondylodesis or spondylosyndesis, is a surgery performed by orthopaedic surgeons or neurosurgeons that joins two or more vertebrae.
2. History of Bone Grafts in Spine Surgery (Cureus)
Gilad A. Hampel and colleagues, Cureus, 2022History and Progression of Spinal Fusion sectionQuote, History and Progression of Spinal Fusion section
On January 9, 1911, Hibbs performed the first spinal fusion on a boy with spinal tuberculosis.
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