Hybrid Surgery

[Mark UK]

Hi i'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but i had a question. I am on the waiting list for surgery on my lumber spine & my consultant has suggested doing hybrid surgery - i have 3 discs that need doing & they are talking about doing a fusion and an ADR at the same time.

Has anyone here had this kind of surgery before who can tell me a little about how it is done & what it involves? I wont see my Dr for a while & just want to do my own research in the meantime.

Mark.

[brian mccarthy]

Originally posted by Mark UK:
Hi i'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but i had a question. I am on the waiting list for surgery on my lumber spine & my consultant has suggested doing hybrid surgery - i have 3 discs that need doing & they are talking about doing a fusion and an ADR at the same time.
Has anyone here had this kind of surgery before who can tell me a little about how it is done & what it involves? I wont see my Dr for a while & just want to do my own research in the meantime.

Mark.

Hello Mark
I had a hybrid done in London on April 22nd. My surgeon is Mr John Sutcliffe at the London Spine Clinic. I had Charite ADR L3/L4, L4/L5 and ALIF (fusion) at L5/S1. ALIF means Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion. That means they went in via an incision on the lower abdomen. It was done with a cage and synthetic bone material with no instrumentation.
If you have any specific questions then feel free to PM me any time and I'll help all I can.
Regards
Brian

[OsteoRach]

hi mark,

i had a hybrid procedure at L4/5 (Maverick) and L5/S1 ALIF. after much research i decided with this option over a two level fusion (was never offered a two level adr and never thought to ask about it). it was a very personal decision with many postivies and negatives for both options, however in my individual case i felt adr was indicated at L4/5 and would give me the best chance of avoiding the cascading affects of adjacent segment degeneration. my facets at L4/5 were in perfect condition on CT scan which was a big part of the decision.

feel free to ask me any questions,

rachel

[Mark UK]

Hi Rachel, thanks for replying to me. I have been talking with other people who have had hybrid surgery just so that i can go into it informed as such so it's good to hear from as many people as i can about thier personal experience.

I've had problems with my back for 10 years & been through all the treatments available before surgery but nothing has worked so this is my last resort. I am particularly interested in the aftercare & what sort of things you need to do afterwards to make the most of surgery.

Mark.

[Terry]

Mark:

I was very fit prior to my 4 level ADR surgery. I had the surgery November 4, '06 and resumed driving as soon as I got home on November 18th. I then drove 10 hours to Minnesota at Christmas time and then went back to work January 4th. I started snowshoeing right away and being on a spinning bike. I then started bicycling in April in Michigan and rode 2,235 miles last season and over 1,400 miles this season so far.

The only thing I was very careful with is what I lifted and I even misbehaved there. I am probably a horrible role model as I work to be fit and look at things as challenges to be overcome in life. This was just another challenge for me.

I'm not going to lie to you though; the recovery was a roller coaster ride. The distraction pain was intense for a quite awhile. I was on Lyrica, 400 Mg for 7 months after surgery. I was also on light pain medication for the first year and have been on Suboxone since to deal with pain and, now to wean off of the opiates entirely. I am on 1/4 - 1/2 of an 8 Mg. Suboxone pill daily so I am almost completely weened off. I went slow to allow my body time to shed the opiates without going through withdrawals and to deal with residual pain.

I feel like my surgery was very much a success and I have went on with my life. I hope the Maverick and Prestige discs I have in my spine last the rest of my lifetime and I never have to go through this horrible intense pain again. Prior to surgery I walked with a cane for many, many months and looked like a little, old man.

Any other questions, you've come to the right spot.

Terry Newton

[Mark UK]

That all sounds pretty positive that you were able to do so much after surgery really. From what i am reading it seems to be the recovery that's the hardest. To be honest i am really looking forward to surgery because i have lived with the pain for so long.

Mark.