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Hi Doctor , My Mother (53 Years Old) Did A

Posted on Sun, 5 Jul 2020

Question: Hi Doctor , My mother (53 years old) did a spinal fusion surgery 1 year ago , between L4 & L5 and between L5 & S1, she is worried about the success of her surgery because she didn't feel much improvement in her symptoms, she did a CT scan 1 week ago that I'll show to you, I want to know if there is good healing, your evaluation of the procedure outcome on the X-ray and if there is anything wrong to mention.

I need an answer from a Neurosurgeon please, I have Only CT scan images but no MRI .

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (25 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Answer

Detailed Answer:
Hi there

Thanks for the query

I am a Spine surgeon. Usually severe pain is a cause of possible non-healing.

Sometimes improvement may not be there if the other discs are degenerating as well.

Please share the CT films and report for me to be able to answer your query.

Thank you.

Regards,

Aashish Raghu

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana

Follow up: Dr. Aashish Raghu (13 hours later)

Thank You Dr for your reply

I uploaded the CT images and you can view them

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (54 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Answer

Detailed Answer:
There are usually various images which are taking a different positions of the scanner and it is impossible to say from these minimal number of films whether there is proper healing of the fusion, although I cannot appreciate evidence of fusion in these images.

It is also helpful to note that when there is fusion of the vertebrae of one level there can be degeneration of the disks of the higher level which can lead to pain and increased symptoms.

If you do have the report of the CT scan it would be helpful if you could share it.

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T