Are Spinal Fusion Surgeries Safe?
Sometimes, surgery is suggested as an option for relieving a health condition which is causing a patient to experience pain or discomfort. Some surgeries involve the use of surgical products, which are used to repair or replace parts of the patient’s body. Since medical products are manufactured items, each type of medical product may be offered for sale by several manufacturers. Surgeons who perform surgeries which involve the use of medical products often have a choice of which brand of product they will use for a specific type of operation that they perform.
Some medical products do wonderful things for the patients who receive them as part of operations which are conducted by skillful surgeons. Unfortunately, some medical products do not perform as intended, even if they are placed in the body during a surgery which is performed by a knowledgeable and experienced surgeon. Other medical products may perform as intended, only to create severe side effects at some point after they have been placed inside of the patient’s body.
Spinal fusion surgery is a type of surgery which uses screws, bone grafts, and rods to connect two or more vertebrae. It is often used to relieve back pain in patients with arthritis and other forms of degenerative disease affecting the spine. The fused area of the spine becomes immobile after the surgery, but irritation of the spinal nerves is usually reduced. Surgeons may use bone grafts from the patient’s own bone during the surgery. Sometimes, bone from another person is used if using the patient’s own bone is not an option. Synthetic bone grafts are also available from at least two medical products manufacturers.
One synthetic bone graft product which has been used in spinal fusion surgeries is INFUSE by Medtronic. The company has been through several Federal investigations involving payments and other gifts to doctors from Medtronic as inducements to use INFUSE in their practices. One investigation even examined allegations that scholarly articles which were written by doctors who were paid by Medtronic failed to disclose serious and life-threatening side effects of INFUSE.
Some of the possible serious side effects that a patient could experience following a spinal fusion surgery in which INFUSE is used are cancer, male sterility, degeneration of the bone tissue, and even death. While INFUSE was approved by the FDA for use only in specific types of spinal fusion surgeries, some surgeons have used it in “off label” applications. Off label use of INFUSE in upper back spinal fusion surgeries has been linked to swelling of tissues in the neck and throat which may cause difficulty in breathing, swallowing, or speaking. Some patients who experienced these symptoms had to undergo intubation or tracheotomy in order to find relief.
Every type of surgery carries with it its own set of risks, which patients may choose to accept in order to obtain the benefits which are promised to them by their surgeons. Some patients go on to recover from surgery and find relief from the pain and discomfort which led them to go under the knife. Other patients must undergo additional surgery to relieve additional pain caused by side effects of the initial operation. Still others must receive various types of medical treatment for side effects which were caused by surgery. Sadly, some patients even die from complications which arise during or after surgery. If you or someone that you know has been killed or injured as a result of complications from a surgery, contact the experienced Memphis Medical Malpractice Attorneys at Bailey & Greer, PLLC, today. Call (888) 470-9143 to schedule a time to discuss your case with us. At Bailey & Greer, PLLC, we are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win.