The Bane of the Back
September 05, 2019
Stress fractures can be the bane of the backs of young athletes - in particular, stress fractures that occur in the lower back.
These injuries can be debilitating - and extremely painful - when one vertebra slides onto another.
This injury happened to 12-year-old Kaleigh Clemons, who practiced gymnastics beginning at age 5.
After developing severe back pain, Clemons was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, a spinal deformity, worsened by the rigorous physical stress she was under during the tumbling and workout of gymnastics.
Spondylolysis can result in vertebrae slipping. Affected vertebrae can move backward, forward or over a bone below.
Due to her condition, Clemons faced an uncomfortable and challenging life with back pain and leg pain if left untreated. Clemons also faced the potential of living in a wheelchair, as well as bowel and bladder issues.
For Clemons and many other, surgery was the best course of treatment. Four months after her procedure, Clemons is dancing, lifting weights and making gains - even in height by getting 2 and a half inches taller.
The reason for the fast recovery? Clemons' surgeon at the Texas Back Institute, Dr. Isador Lieberman, says it is a new ultrasonic bone scalpel.
The scalpel, hailed as a game-changer, vibrates 22,500 times per second to precisely cut away damaged bone tissue. The tip of the device is not sharp and does not damage soft tissue - which makes it a safer, less intrusive way of performing spinal surgery.
"Less invasive procedures are optimal, especially in terms of spinal procedures," said Dr. Faisal R. Jahangiri of AXIS Neuromonitoring in Richardson, Texas, an intraoperative neuromonitoring company.
AXIS did not participate in Clemons' surgery, but the company works with many surgeons on spinal procedures to provide an extra level of patient care in the operating room.
"We see what surgeons cannot see: critical changes to nervous system response and potentially dangerous changes to neural structures," Jahangiri said.
They saw potentially dangerous changes during surgery for spondylolisthesis. A 70-year-old female with a history of back pain, leg pain and numbness was admitted with spondylolisthesis in the lumbar region at the L2-L3 vertebrae.
During the procedure to help stabilize her spine, AXIS monitored the patient using Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SSEP) and electromyography (EMG).
While watching for changes in the patient, an AXIS technologist saw lower than acceptable EMG responses when a lumbar screw at L2 was placed.
The screw was removed and adjusted; the patient responded appropriately with improved EMG values and experienced no neurological consequences.
"The ability to give surgeons a deeper look into the patient's body helps to improve outcomes and reduces the risk of life-changing consequences," Jahangiri said.
Source. WQAD. YOUR HEALTH: Repairing fractures with an amazing new scalpel. 30 August 2019.
