Male Speaker: At first back and neck pain can relentless and disabling. Each year 350,000 people undergo surgery in hope of ending their misery but for some relief is elusive. Now new procedures offer patients a better shot at conquering pain.
When we're young bending like a pretzel is as natural as a smile. But age and injury can take its toll. When back pain strikes, it can bowl you over.
Female Speaker: So, I play 50 second in singles throughout the State of Georgia.
Male Speaker: Maureen Lawrence was at the top of her game until a Degenerative Disc flattened her.
Maureen Lawrence: I couldn't turn my head, I couldn't bend it, I stayed in bed, I cried all day long.
Male Speaker: Neurologist Christopher Baker use a new generation of fusion Surgery to help Marine.
Dr. Christopher Baker: It takes an operation which is a good operation and makes it much better. This first X-ray here is, how we're doing things.
Male Speaker: In the past doctors would screw a plate into the patient's vertebrae and use bone they took from the hip fusing it to the spine. This spinal cage implant is different from other fusion procedures.
Dr. Christopher Baker: The cage goes where the disc used to be, so we take out the disc and literally screw this cage into space where the disc was previously.
Male Speaker: It also eliminates the need for hip graft.
Dr. Christopher Baker: We shave a little bone from either side and those bone shaving or bone shapes, is what we pack the cage with.
Male Speaker: In just 4 months Marine was ready to strike back. Another fusion procedure also promises patients a quicker recovery.
Dr. Robert A. Hart: Traditional Spine surgery required a large open procedure from the back, where the muscles are stripped away from spine.
Male Speaker: Here surgeons drill small holes on either side of the spine. Using X-rays to guide them, they insert screws into the vertebrae followed by a rod.
Dr. Robert A. Hart: That rod finds the two screws and interlocks, interconnects between the two screws.
Male Speaker: Smaller incision mean a quicker, less painful recovery.
Dr. Robert A. Hart: It's done through an incision a centimeter or two long and done through the skin rather than through an open procedure.
Male Speaker: Two days after her surgery Sherry Devansenzy (ph) was up and around.
Sherry Devansenzy: I was think and I wished I would have to done it much sooner.
Male Speaker: But Fusion does have its drawbacks.
Dr. Fabien Bitan: By blocking the motion of this one level, you increase the stress on the adjacent levels.
Male Speaker: Now there's way around that too with artificial discs.
Dr. Fabien Bitan: This is probably one of the most important breakthrough in the Spinal surgery over the last 50 years.
Male Speaker: In fact it may be the holy grail for treating degenerative disc disease.
Dr. Fabien Bitan: That re-creates the normal motion of the spine.
Male Speaker: Dr. Fabien Bitan is helping lead the FDA study of artificial or replacement disc.
Dr. Fabien Bitan: We foresee probably that this is very gradually going to take over, Spinal Fusion.
Carl Nush: As with the fusion, I would have lost the mobility in my lower back.
Male Speaker: Not an option for Triathlete Carl Nush, he is among the first patients to undergo Disc replacement surgery.
Carl Nush: I can swim wit any, no discomfort, I can ride pretty much with no discomfort.
Male Speaker: And for patients like Carl, a new disc means a whole new race.
Carl Nush: It's been fantastic.
Male Speaker: Doctors say they'll always try to treat back pain with therapy and medication before considering surgery. The FDA has just proved the artificial disc replacement and it should be widely available in coming months.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services