spinal fusion

Spinal fusion is a broad term to denote the joining of two or more adjacent vertebral segments. Fusion can be congenital or acquired as a direct result of disease or deliberately following spinal surgery.

Congenital fusion

Fusion of two or more adjacent segments is encountered either as an isolated, usually incidental, finding or in a variety of conditions with multiple other defects.

Acquired fusion

Many disease processes can result in fusion of adjacent vertebrae including:

Operative fusion

Numerous procedures have been developed over the years to fuse spinal segments to treat a variety of conditions (e.g. spondylolisthesis, unstable spinal fractures, disc protrusions). It should be noted that it is osseous fusion than confers long-term stability and that fusion solely with instrumentation will eventually fail .

Hardware

A number of components are used to achieve fusion. These include :

  • connecting rods
  • Hartshill rectangles
  • interbody spacers/cages
  • laminar hooks
  • plates
  • screws
    • pedicle screws 
    • facet joint screws
    • translaminar screws
  • vertebral body replacement devices
  • wires
Techniques

One or more of the above-mentioned components can be utilized to achieve fusion. Some of the more common procedures include:

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