Climbing Again in Six Weeks

Spinal fusion surgery eases pain caused by a herniated disc

Bill Young, 57, was understandably cautious about having back surgery. As a child, he saw his father laid up in a full body cast for several months while recovering from spinal fusion to repair a herniated disc. But thanks to today’s advanced techniques, he had a much better experience.

Young, an active climber who owns the North Summit Climbing Gym in Wind Gap, Pa., first injured his back two years ago. “Carrying five-gallon buckets of coal up from my basement, I started having searing pain running down my leg,” he says.

He had herniated a disc in his lower back, which was pressing against the sciatic nerve that runs from the top of the pelvis down through the leg to the foot. Young underwent two surgeries to remove part of the disc but with his active lifestyle, the pain relief was short-lived. His Lehigh Valley Health Network neurosurgeon recommended a new type of spinal fusion.

During a five-hour operation, neurosurgeon Mark Li, M.D., used titanium screws, rods and an interbody graft to stabilize Young’s fourth and fifth vertebrae. He removed the damaged disc, replacing it with a small graft filled with bone from his pelvic bone. Guided by X-ray technology that shows the procedure on a screen, the surgeons used a new screw and rod insertion system that required just six tiny incisions.

“This technique achieves the same results as traditional surgery, but by making small punctures on each side of the spine rather than one large incision, we limit the damage to the surrounding tissue,” Li says.

Young was home in just two days. After six weeks of physical therapy, he got the green light to resume normal activities—climbing the wall in his gym pain-free.

This page last updated 10/27/09 04:26 PM