Who is a Candidate

• Adults between18 and 60 years of age with symptomatic cervical disc disease who have failed to experience improvement after six months of non-operative care (physical therapy, pain medications, and possibly injections)
• Patients who require cervical spine fusion can undergo cervical spine surgery
• Patients with one or two damaged discs, causing nerve compression (If two discs require treatment, however, there is currently only one type of disc replacement allowed to be used at two different levels).
• Patients with ongoing shoulder, neck, or back issues may qualify for cervical spine surgery

Preparation

While preparing for cervical spine surgery, you must not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your surgery. Do not consume any solid foods after 9 p.m. or any liquids, even water, after midnight if you are hospitalized on the morning of your surgery. Take off all jewelry, including wedding bands, to avoid swelling in the morning.
The nurse will ask you to take off all your clothes, including underwear and socks, and put on a hospital gown to prepare for cervical spine surgery.

Surgery Details

An anesthesiologist will interview you before going into the operating room, and they will inject an intravenous line into your arm. To reduce the chance of infection, intravenous antibiotics will be injected and continued following the operation. The anesthesia will be administered once you are in the operating room. The procedure may take up several hours. Skin preparation, positioning, and anesthetic time are all included in this time frame. To help safeguard their spinal cord and nerves throughout the cervical spine surgery, some patients require spinal monitoring known as somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) during the process. A technician will apply sticky electrodes to your body if you have SSEP.

After Surgery

After surgery, you must:

• Get out of bed by yourself
• Proceed down the corridor
• Ascend stairs to test balance
• Take a shower and clean the incision with water & soup

Our staff will assist you in achieving your post-surgery goals, motivating you to participate actively and take on as much responsibility as possible. After surgery, you will wake up in bed on your back with a neck collar or brace. On the evening after your cervical spine surgery, assistance will be provided to get you out of bed so you may start your exercise regimen. Exercises for the legs, walking, stair climbing, and daily tasks like getting dressed and bathing are all part of your exercise regimen.

Home Recovery

You may require to wear a collar for 4-6 weeks during the home recovery period. Many people report an early alleviation in their pain; nevertheless, unless the collar is entirely removed, there may be lingering headaches or neck pain.
Every patient’s healing process is unique. Post-operative pain in cervical spine surgery is typically not severe, though it may be bothersome. Patients often recover under competent guidance after 3-6 months.