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6 | November 22, 2017 | 22nd century media holiday guide<br />
22ndCenturyMedia.com<br />
Cervical disk replacement at Illinois Spine & Scoliosis<br />
Center preserves range of motion, shortens recovery time<br />
Whether it’s moving<br />
boxes of decorations or<br />
rearranging furniture to<br />
accommodate guests, the<br />
holidays can be a time of<br />
heavy lifting. That means<br />
many will be at risk of<br />
sustaining back and neck<br />
injuries.<br />
“The easiest way to cause<br />
an injury is not keeping the<br />
core muscles in shape,”<br />
said Dr. Kris Siemionow,<br />
chief of spine surgery and<br />
assistant professor of orthopedics<br />
and neurosurgery<br />
at the University of Illinois<br />
in Chicago. “The most<br />
common cause for a spinal<br />
injury is overuse. Often,<br />
when you overexert yourself,<br />
your muscles fatigue,<br />
which left unrested, can<br />
lead to worse injuries such<br />
as strains, pinched nerves,<br />
or even breaks.”<br />
One common ailment<br />
is a disk herniation. This<br />
painful condition is caused<br />
by problems with the rubbery<br />
disks between the individual<br />
vertebrae of the<br />
spine.<br />
“A herniated disk is extremely<br />
common,” said Dr.<br />
Anthony Rinella, founder<br />
of the Illinois Spine &<br />
Scoliosis Center. “It’s often<br />
caused by repetitive<br />
motions that involve looking<br />
up. Disk herniations<br />
in the neck are a common<br />
cause of pain radiating<br />
toward the shoulder and<br />
down the arm.”<br />
Fortunately, there are<br />
treatment options available.<br />
Patients often are<br />
successfully treated with<br />
conservative management<br />
options, such as pain<br />
medication, therapy and<br />
injections, but a small percentage<br />
of people with this<br />
condition will eventually<br />
need surgery. Traditionally,<br />
this procedure involved<br />
taking out the problematic<br />
disk and fusing the<br />
remaining disks together<br />
with metal hardware.<br />
While this fusion process<br />
provides spinal stability, it<br />
also can limit the patient’s<br />
range of motion. A newer<br />
procedure, called cervical<br />
disk replacement, has<br />
solved this problem. Like<br />
the standard cervical fusion,<br />
this surgery involves<br />
removing the disk to relieve<br />
pressure on the nerves. But<br />
instead of a metal plate,<br />
surgeons insert a flexible<br />
piece of plastic.<br />
“The biggest benefit is<br />
that this maintains motion<br />
of the neck in that area<br />
where normally a fusion<br />
procedure would weld<br />
the two bones together,”<br />
Siemionow said. “The<br />
cervical disk replacement<br />
basically functions similar<br />
to a joint replacement that<br />
maintains motion.”<br />
While the procedure<br />
has been around for some<br />
time, it is relatively new in<br />
the United States.<br />
“It took time for there to<br />
be adequate research and<br />
for insurance companies to<br />
support the new technology,”<br />
Rinella said. “Current<br />
studies suggest this is<br />
a major step forward for<br />
cervical spine surgery, perhaps<br />
the biggest step in the<br />
past 30 years.”<br />
Along with preserving<br />
range of motion, there<br />
are other benefits to the<br />
procedure. Cervical disk<br />
replacements typically<br />
have a shorter recovery<br />
time than a fusion procedure.<br />
Patients often go<br />
home the same day and<br />
are completely healed in<br />
4-6 weeks. There are also<br />
fewer follow-up appointments<br />
needed.<br />
This recovery time is<br />
also more comfortable for<br />
the patients, because no<br />
immobilization devices,<br />
such as neck collars, are<br />
required. Compared to<br />
metal, the plastic device<br />
used in cervical disk replacement<br />
puts less pressure<br />
on the disks above<br />
and below it, which helps<br />
prevent arthritis or degeneration.<br />
Perhaps most importantly,<br />
the procedure<br />
quickly improves the patient’s<br />
quality of life by<br />
reducing their symptoms.<br />
“Patients usually see immediate<br />
improvement in<br />
their radiating pain symptoms.<br />
There’s a very high<br />
rate of success compared<br />
to other surgeries,” Rinella<br />
said. “In patients that do<br />
need surgery, we find that<br />
this new technology is<br />
very promising. And we<br />
are one of the few spine<br />
surgeons using this advanced<br />
technology.”<br />
Submitted by the Illinois<br />
Spine & Scoliosis Center,<br />
12701 W. 143rd St. in Homer<br />
Glen. For more information,<br />
visit myissc.com or call (877)<br />
694-7722.<br />
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