Week Three Day One : Understanding Possible Complications

To understand the rest of my project, I want to explain what complications can occur in spinal fusion surgery, and just go over some examples. On Friday, I plan to talk about the data I am/will be collecting throughout the project to analyze if complications following spinal fusion surgery do have a relation to pre-operative conditions, however, before I can do that, I want to explain what complications can arise, and how they are important to this project.

Firstly, I define a complication as an unexpected consequence of the spinal fusion surgery, thus eliminating subsequent and expected pain as a complication. There are plenty of complications, but the ones below are the ones I've heard about through one of my readings, Scoliosis: Ascending the Curve. 

Allergic Reactions

Many people do not know that they have an allergy to nickel, which is found in some stainless steel rods that are surgically implanted. This can lead to lesions and an unnatural sort of pain in the back. If the doctor knows the patient has this sort of allergy, titanium rods are also useful for spinal fusion surgery, and can work just as well. The only way to counteract this is by removing the rods in patients' backs.

Decompensation

This is when the spine continues to grow and curve above and below where the spine is initially fused. If seen in pediatric patients, the usual treatment can be bracing the patient's back, which is much different than in adults who may need more surgery to correct this. Below is a picture of decompensation. 

Pseudarthrosis and Broken Rods

This is when following spinal fusion, the spine does not completely fuse together, and therefore the spinal fusion has failed. Another issue would be if the rod was broken, however this can be dealt with, and does not necessarily needed to be treated surgically (but by using my definition of a complication, it still is defined as such, even if it doesn't need surgical correction).

Loss of Spinal Function

This is actually common in all spinal fusion patients, with one article saying that there is a reduced range of movement, which is understandable because of the instrumentation in the patient's back, however any abnormal loss of function would be considered a complication. 

Some other complications that I have found through other articles that analyze the rate of complications following this operation are death, infection, curvature progression, or increased torso deformity. This is just a general overview of some different types of complications which will set up an easier understanding of the rest of my project, however these are not the only complications, as other, more random complications, can also happen following the surgery.