| Description: | Long Beach Spine Surgery is often sought to treat spinal conditions including deformity in children and adult scoliosis, kyphosis and flatback. Dr. Yuan never recommends surgery first and guides you to many options for pain relief and quality of life. Up to 90% of patients experience pain relief with Long Beach Lumbar Spinal Fusion. Pain is significantly reduced after this procedure. A Long Beach lumbar spinal fusion is a type of back surgery that can be done as an open, minimally invasive or mini-open procedure. The procedure combines two or more vertebrae through a welding-like process in order to reduce pain and increase stability in the spine. It is used to treat chronic neck and back pain that may radiate to the arms and legs. People who suffer conditions such as degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, fractures and spinal tumors in Long Beach typically make good candidates for the procedures. When possible, some spinal fusion surgeries can be done as outpatient procedures with minimal cutting and operating time—they are called minimally invasive spinal fusions. Depending on which vertebrae are causing pain and where potentially diseased discs are located, a fusion can be done on the thoracic (upper back) or lumbar spine (lower back). What is it? Long Beach spinal fusions prevent pain associated with movement by fusing together two or more vertebrae in the spine to prevent painful movement. The pieces are welded together using a bone graft, made from either a cadaver bone or taken from the patient. These grafts are commonly referred to as cages. To be effective, Dr. Yuan has to be able to tell which vertebrae are causing the problems, so before scheduling a surgery they will use diagnostic imaging, including CTs, x-rays and MRIs to determine the cause of the pain. Without this knowledge, a spinal fusion is not typically recommended.There are two types of minimally invasive spinal fusions that target the lumbar spine—transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, or TLIF, and lateral lumbar interbody fusion, called LLIF or XLIF. A transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion is used when Dr. Yuan needs to access both the front and back of the spine during the procedure. In addition to fusing the bones together with a bone graft, the surgery decompresses the spinal cord and/or spinal nerves and provides stability to the spine. |