Lumbar Spine Pedicle Screw Fixation Fusion 3D Animations:
Internal fixation is a surgical procedure in which to restore the structural integrity of the lumbar vertebrae. To help the patient in early mobilization and curvature correction in the lumbar spine. Implant metallic devices consists of hooks, screws, rods or plates to span the area between healthy bone. During a bone graft, fragments of bone are placed in the space between two bones. If the space is rigidly kept in place, these bone fragments will correctly fuse together and to the adjacent bone to form one solid, stable, pain-free piece of bone. If any excess movement occurs between the adjacent bones before these bone fragments have fused, the bone graft can become displaced. This can risk causing pain, injury to the adjacent tissues, mal-alignment (of bones) or non-fusion of the bone (pseudoarthrosis) and further weakening of the pedicle screws if left inside.
The pedicle screw is used as a support to aide in the healing of the spine fusion and a means of gripping a spinal segment. The screws, themselves do not fixate the spinal segment rather they act as firm anchor points to be connected to a crosslink with one or more rods for insertion and adjustment in their placement. Pedicle screws can be inserted into three or more lumbar segments.
Pedicle screws come in different diameters and lengths made from metal alloys such as titanium or stainless steel. Please see updated warnings or recalls from the FDA as many are fast tracked in their design and application. In a posterior lumbar spine operation, the surgeon places the hardware in the back through the hole of a cylinder-shaped pedicle into the vertebral body.
Medical manufacturers are now color coding in differentiation of their orthopedic devices. The surface of these titanium screws are coated for the visual identification of their components during the surgical process in installation of these pedicle screw systems.
Aluminum and titanium metals are anodized to increase corrosion resistance. Sensitivity to these color coated substances have not been addressed by the medical community. How these materials may react to the skin, organs and other tissues may pose inherent dangers to the human body's immune system thus leading to implant failure and chronic allergies. You can see in the photograph below, the anodized colors of a lumbar pedicle screw device. In the second illustration, blue and yellow titanium color coated screws are used in this latest technology.
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