Spine Navigation Surgery (1)

Spine Navigation Surgery - minimally invasive and computer assisted surgery

Spine Navigation Surgery was introduced since year 2000 and adapted in Hong Kong for more than 5 years. Similar technology was widely used in daily activities like driving, computer games (like Wii),etc.. The image-based technology used in spinal surgery utilizes scans of the patient's bony anatomy and instruments that are tracked by the Navigation System's camera. Navigation can help orthopaedic surgeons to guide their instruments for precise screw placement and reduce X-ray exposure.





Spine navigation surgery - Applications

Orthopaedic doctors will undergo proper diagnosis and evaluation before recommendation of surgery. Generally, spine navigation surgery is applicable for common spinal disorders requiring screw placement and especially for areas requiring high surgical precision. For example,

1. Revision spine surgery.
2. Patients with osteoporotic bones.
3. High risk areas like the cervical spine or areas with severe deformities.

Reference information: www.ispine.com.hk

It is not intended as medical advice to any specific person. If you have any need for personal advice or have any questions regarding your health, please consult your personal physician.

Degenerative scoliosis (2)

Treatment

In some cases, the symptoms can be relieved and activities of daily living can be maintained by appropriate pharmacologic treatment. For patients with their daily function severely affected despite of non-surgical treatment, surgical decompression and reconstruction can be considered after taking into the accounts the pros and cons in particular patient’s medical co-morbidities.





Surgery

The purpose of the surgery is to reduce pressure on the nerve, stabilize and improve the spine alignment by instrumentation and fusion. 3D computer navigation helps to reduce the difficulty and improve the precision of screw insertion in the deformed areas.

Reference information: www.ispine.com.hk

It is not intended as medical advice to any specific person. If you have any need for personal advice or have any questions regarding your health, please consult your personal physician.

Degenerative scoliosis (1)

Symptoms

Scoliosis means abnormal lateral curvature in the spine. There are different kinds of scoliosis. While the others kinds presents mainly in childhood and adolescent with purely deformity, the degenerative scoliosis mainly affects the elderly population by not only deformity but also neurological symptoms. It is regarded as the most severe stage of spine degeneration.




Clinical signs

Detailed clinical consultation, examination would identify the functional impairment and neurological deficit. Standing and dynamic x-ray examination measures the deformity and instability. MRI scan helps to precisely locate the area of nerve compression. Other examinations like CT scan and nerve root block may be necessary in some cases.




Exercise

Physiotherapy is an effective way to strengthen your muscles. The strong muscles can help to maintain a correct position of the spine. Low-impact activities can increase overall fitness without straining the back.

Reference information: www.ispine.com.hk

It is not intended as medical advice to any specific person. If you have any need for personal advice or have any questions regarding your health, please consult your personal physician.

Sciatica

Prolapsed intervertebral disc causing sciatica

Sciatica is a pain symptom radiating from the low back to the calf and foot. It is usually caused by prolapsed intervertebral disc most commonly occurred at 30-50 years old. At these age, our intervertebral discs, especially the lower lumbar, started to have tears of different extent, followed by dehydration and collapse. The may cause low back pain and it was reported that up to 80% of the population may have a least one episode of major low back pain during their working age. These tears cause pain but most of these are only transient. The pain may improve with time and the most important factor to improve the symptoms and prevent it from becoming chronic pain is to stay active, sometimes with the aid of appropriate pain medications and physiotherapy. In some of the individuals, the disc may protrude through the tear and cause compression on the lumbar nerve. This causes radiation pain down the leg, i.e. sciatica.


Physiotherapy

There are various modalities of physiotherapy help to relief pain and prevent prolonged bed rest which is found to be detrimental to functional recovery. More importantly, the physiotherapists help the patient to maintain proper posture and perform appropriate exercise to strengthening the back muscles. The strong muscles can help to maintain a correct position of the spine. Low-impact activities can increase overall fitness without straining the back.


Pharmacologic and surgical treatment

According to research and clinical experience, many patients can relieve their pain by maintaining regular and appropriate physical activities in several weeks. Six weeks of physiotherapy / pharmacologic treatments would be advised for general case. Orthopaedic doctors may employ nerve blockers for some serious cases. Generally, more then 80% of the patients would have their symptoms improved with these non-surgical treatments in a few weeks’ time. Surgical treatment is indicated for
Cauda equina syndrome-the lumbar and sacral nerve roots are severely compressed by the propapsed intervertebral disc. Apart from lower limb pain, the patient also has pain and numbness in in the buttocks and peranal area and bowel and uninary incontinence or retention. This condition needs emergent surgical treatment.
The disabling pain persist after 6 weeks of physiotherapy / pharmacologic treatments
Progressively worsening neurological deficit.
Orthopaedic doctors will undergo proper diagnosis and evaluation before recommendation for surgery. The main purpose of the surgery is to reduce pressure on the nerves.

Reference information: www.ispine.com.hk

It is not intended as medical advice to any specific person. If you have any need for personal advice or have any questions regarding your health, please consult your personal physician.

Fracture

Bone fracture and healing

In the past, fracture reduction and fixation required absolute anatomical reduction and stability. This often led to fracture non-union due to excessive vascular and soft tissue damage during surgery. Nowadays, absolute anatomical reduction is found to be un-necessary except fractures into joints. The reduction and fixation should minimize the trauma to the surrounding blood vessels and soft tissues. The fixation stability should be relative to stimulate bone formation during fracture healing. Modern minimally invasive fracture and reduction techniques help to achieve these goals on one hand, and to facilitate rehabilitation and functional recovery on the other.

Reference information: www.ispine.com.hk

It is not intended as medical advice to any specific person. If you have any need for personal advice or have any questions regarding your health, please consult your personal physician.