Reducing Complications
December 10, 2019
If you're living with neck pain, you know that it's a real ... well, pain in the neck. Many people experience neck pain or stiffness for a range of reasons, including injury, overuse or inflammation. There's also a range of ways to treat neck pain, one of them being surgery in severe cases.
The neck is made up of seven interlocking vertebrae, separated by cushioning discs, like the rest of the spine. However, the neck is less protected than the rest of the spine. This means it is more susceptible to injury or other conditions that cause pain and discomfort.
Neck pain is most often caused by muscle strain, which can mean dull or sharp pain, aching, and throbbing in the neck. Muscle strain can develop due to bad posture, poor sleep position or sitting at a desk or computer for long periods.
It can also develop as a result of cervical disk degeneration, also known as cervical spondylosis. This condition causes the cushioning vertebrae of the neck to wear down, which, in turn, increases friction between the bones of the neck and leads to pain and stiffness.
Cervical spondylosis is a common consequence of aging. As the condition progresses, it becomes more painful because affected discs can bulge out and put pressure on the spinal cord or nerves that branch off from the spinal cord.
That pain may eventually spread to the shoulder and down one or both arms.
Cervical spondylosis affects almost 85 percent of people over the age of 60.
Treatments for the condition include physical therapy, stretching exercises, muscle relaxers and steroids. In severe cases, surgery may be helpful. But, in some instances, surgery unintentionally may leave patients living with cervical spondylosis in more discomfort than before.
"Surgical procedures involving the cervical spine - or any part of the spine - have additional risks and challenges," said Dr. Faisal R. Jahangiri of AXIS Neuromonitoring in Richardson, Texas, which provides intraoperative neuromonitoring services across Texas.
Challenges arise because the spine, despite its strength, is a complex and delicate structure. It's also because the spine houses the spinal cord, the bundle of nerve fibers that connects the majority of the body to the brain.
"If the spinal cord becomes damaged during the procedure, patients could be left with numbness, muscle weakness, pain and partial or complete paralysis from the neck down," Jahangiri said.
The potential for complications can happen when treating spondylosis anywhere on the spine - not just the neck.
"All spinal procedures leave patients vulnerable to post-op problems," Jahangiri said.
Case in point: AXIS Neuromonitoring technologists were in the operating room when a 55-year-old patient was undergoing surgery for spondylosis, intervertebral disc displacement, lower back pain and spinal stenosis.
During the procedure, AXIS technologists were monitoring the patient through diagnostic tools, including somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP), motor evoked potentials (TCeMEP) and electromyography (EMG).
Using these devices allowed AXIS technologists to see changes in the patient when lateral retractors were placed into the back. These changes, which included reduced muscle response in the adductor brevis, vastus lateralis and rectus femoris muscles, could have left the patient with spinal nerve damage and a lifetime of thigh muscle weakness, numbness and pain.
Source: Mayo Clinic. Cervical spondylosis. 30 November 2019.
