Spinal Trauma
It is very common to get injuries to the lower back or the lumbar spine. Accidents, sports injuries, falls, violence etc. may cause spine injuries or spinal trauma. No matter how protected the spine is by discs, ligaments and muscles , it is vulnerable to traumatic injury as the rest of skeletal system.
Symptoms
Symptoms for spinal trauma may vary according to the location of the injury. Most common symptoms may include weakness and pain below the point of the injury. Severity of the symptoms will vary according to the severity of the injury.
Spinal trauma can be classified under different names.
It may include
- Thoracic (chest level injuries)
- Lumbar sacral injuries
- Cervical (neck) injuries
Treatments
Spinal trauma or spinal cord trauma is a medical emergency which require immediate medical care. If left untreated, it may cause long-term effects. Mild to moderate injuries can be cured with medications and treatments. Surgeries are chosen for three reasons. They are when:
A good candidate for disc replacement
Not all the people with back pain are suitable for disc replacement.
Disc replacement is suggested if you:
- Need to remove tissue or fluid that presses on the spinal cord
- To fuse broken spinal bones or place spinal braces
- To remove disk fragments, bone fragments or foreign objects.
Most of the surgeries require a local anesthesia. Surgeries are also done using latest techniques such as endoscopy or minimally invasive surgery. They make the surgery more safe and faster.