artificial disc and two level fusion sx

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lisa3451

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Hello all,
I am scheduled to have artifical disc relpacement at level l3-l4, refusion at l4-l5, and fusion at l5-s1. I had my first fusion two years ago l4-l5 that did not work. I was just wondering if anyone has had fusion with an artificial disc on another level. I will be a much bigger operation this time. The first was a plif and now it will be a 360 Anterior/posterior. I am very nervous and scared to go through this again, thanks for any advice
Lisa:angel:
 
Hi Lisa,
I can certainly understand your being fearful. I would strongly suggest to you that you really do your homework about having any lurabar adr ( artificial discs) placed in your back. They have a much better long term outcome in the cervical spine than they do in the lurabar area. Some are fortunate and have a decent outcome, but so far, adr in the lurabar spine has been shown to have a very similar outcome to fusion after a two year period. And it has also been shown to cause problems with the facet joints in as little as three months after surgery, especially if you already have some degree of facet degeneration.
I don't know how soon your surgery is scheduled for, but truly do a search on the internet for negative outcomes. If you want to PM me, I can give you some links to some research and not just to the pro adr sites.
Best wishes for you,
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Many doctors in the USA site the possible complications of lurabar ADR.I've talked to 5 of them and they all respond almost verbatem the exact same worRAB.
For some reason the AMA doesn't seem to want these procedures done,however if you dig you will find there is a high percentage of success in Europe and many patients that are extremely satisfied.
Personally I cannot afford to go to Europe to have mine done....but you can bet your arse that I would go if I could.
The caveat is that there is always the potential for failure with any kind of surgery.
I also think that our doctors here are not comfortable with lurabar ADR because they haven't become adept at performing these procedures.
It is really a shame that we are soo far behind and many areas of medicine.
 
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