subject: Spinal Issues: Is Your Surgeon Using the Right Tools? [print this page] Spinal Issues: Is Your Surgeon Using the Right Tools?
With the seriousness of surgeries that involve the spine, knowing that the surgeon who will be performing the surgery is well prepared and will provide the safest and most effective surgery should be of the utmost importance. Spinal surgery often calls for delicate and precise techniques for successful results. Knowing that the orthopedic surgeon has prepared in advance for these complicated types of surgery can help reassure the patient that the procedure will go smoothly without error.
With the use of a new and groundbreaking diagnostic orthopaedic tool, surgeons can examine and diagnosis the spinal injury in a fashion that has never been done before. Three-dimensional models are now being created of patient's spines and other skeletal parts for surgeons to analysis and evaluate defects, injuries and damage caused by disease. These tools allow the surgeon to see the area exactly as it is by holding the model in their hand and turning it in every direction for three dimensional examination. When surgery is required, the surgeon can practice the procedure on the model for pre-operative purposes that will enable them to provide a safer and faster surgical procedure while reducing the risks of complications and errors.
Patients who may need surgery for a spinal cord injury or other spinal injury such as stenosis, spondylitis, spondylosis, kyphosis or lordosis that require back surgery should know that their spinal surgeon is well prepared and has utilized every available orthopedic tool that can provide better and shorter operative outcomes. Because 3-D models are not widely known about since they are new and groundbreaking, informing personal surgeons about these important devices will help not only the patients, but also the surgeons.
Surgeons who do use these models find that orthopaedic surgery times are cut down by 15 to 20 percent, reducing the amount of stress on the surgeon and the patient. With less time spent in the operating room, costs are also significantly reduced for the patient. This can add up to thousands saved and provide a better outcome of the surgical procedure. Whether the patient may need a laminectomy for thoracic, lumbar or cervical spine repair or an infant need spina bifida correction, this new diagnostic orthopedic tool can assure patients that their surgeon is well prepared and has become completely educated on the surgical procedure, reducing the risks of complications while providing successful results.
