Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Disc herniation can occur in any disc in the spine, but the two most common forms are lumbar disc herniation and cervical disc herniation. The former is the most common, causing low back pain (lumbago) and often leg pain as well, in which case it is commonly referred to as sciatica. Lumbar disc herniation occurs 15 times more often than ...
Schmorl's nodes are fairly common, especially with minor degeneration of the aging spine, but they are also seen in younger spines. Schmorl's nodes often cause no symptoms, but may simply reflect that "wear and tear" of the spine has occurred over time; they may also reflect that bone strength was at one time somewhat compromised, perhaps due to a vitamin D deficiency although this has yet to ...
The soft tissue of the disc is often caused to bulge in retrolistheses. These cannot be determined by plain films, as the x-ray passes through the soft tissue. A study by Giles et al., stated that sixteen of the thirty patients (53%) had retrolisthesis of L5 on S1 ranging from 2–9 mm; these patients had either intervertebral disc bulging or ...
Kyphosis (from Greek κυφός (kyphos) 'hump') is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. [1] [2] Abnormal inward concave lordotic curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis.
The number of vertebrae in a region can vary but overall the number remains the same. In a human spinal column, there are normally 33 vertebrae. [3] The upper 24 pre-sacral vertebrae are articulating and separated from each other by intervertebral discs, and the lower nine are fused in adults, five in the sacrum and four in the coccyx, or tailbone.
Spinal fusion, also called spondylodesis or spondylosyndesis, is a surgery performed by orthopaedic surgeons or neurosurgeons that joins two or more vertebrae. [1] This procedure can be performed at any level in the spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, or sacral) and prevents any movement between the fused vertebrae.
Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a medical condition in which the spinal canal narrows and compresses the nerves and blood vessels at the level of the lumbar vertebrae. Spinal stenosis may also affect the cervical or thoracic region, in which case it is known as cervical spinal stenosis or thoracic spinal stenosis.
A discectomy (also called open discectomy, if done through a 1/2 inch or larger skin opening) is the surgical removal of abnormal disc material that presses on a nerve root or the spinal cord. The procedure involves removing a portion of an intervertebral disc, which causes pain, weakness or numbness by stressing the spinal cord or radiating ...