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FDA approves implant for spinal pain
Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^
| November 22, 2005
| THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted on 11/22/2005 9:02:50 PM PST by neverdem
click here to read article
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1
posted on
11/22/2005 9:02:51 PM PST
by
neverdem
To: neverdem
"The treatment is also less expensive than the more invasive alternative. Implanting a single X-stop costs about $17,000; implanting two costs $24,000, he said. A laminectomy is about $50,000."
I think I'll go with my limp.
2
posted on
11/22/2005 9:11:33 PM PST
by
sageb1
(This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
To: neverdem
Wow, what a timely post to pass to an uncle contemplating surgery. Thanks for posting it.
3
posted on
11/22/2005 9:25:45 PM PST
by
parisa
To: El Gato; JudyB1938; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Robert A. Cook, PE; lepton; LadyDoc; jb6; tiamat; PGalt; ..
4
posted on
11/22/2005 9:29:08 PM PST
by
neverdem
(May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
To: sageb1
What will you do when you can't even limp sit, stand, lay down, bend down, take a crap?
If your problem is managable, certainly, avoid surgery. It's risky. But if your condition gets worse, you have to do something about it if you want to have any sort of life worth living. Trust me, it isn't pleasant to be in that much pain 24 hrs a day. (thank God for oxycontin!!)
I hope you never degenerate to the point where you need surgery, but at least you know it's available, and now a less risky one is an option as well. I'll have to ask my Doc about this, as i'm long overdue for a third operation.
To: Ethrane
Zucherman said he invented the device in 1997 after watching a patient who received a successful laminectomy become mentally disabled - he couldn't remember where he was moment to moment - because of the full anesthesia used. How often does that occur with general anesthesia, or is full anesthesia different from general anesthesia, and what is the term for it besides amnesia?
6
posted on
11/22/2005 9:34:52 PM PST
by
neverdem
(May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
To: neverdem
These are some really good articles. Thanks! My undergraduate degree is in psych, so I love this stuff.
I guess we're all sort of arm chair psychologists anyway.
7
posted on
11/22/2005 9:43:16 PM PST
by
phantomworker
(A new day! Begin it serenely; with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense!)
To: parisa
8
posted on
11/22/2005 9:44:50 PM PST
by
neverdem
(May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
To: Forte Runningrock
I'm not discounting the benefit. I'm just being cranky.
9
posted on
11/22/2005 9:45:56 PM PST
by
sageb1
(This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
To: neverdem
All anesthesia carries with it a potential risk. Because of the nature of this surgery, because they have to actually move the spinal cord slightly, they put you under deeper, near death. If you were to twitch when they touched a nerve with sharp scalpels in there, you could end up paralyzed, or some other loss of function.
It's not only brain damage you risk, loss of bowl/bladder control, loss of kidney function, full or partial paralysis, anything in the spinal cord nerve bundle in that area which could be damaged.
I don't know what the rate is for anesthesia reactions, somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 in a 1000, while risk of nerve damage from the older laminectomy method is 1 in a 100. At least that's what my surgeon told me. This new method sounds much better, and has simular sucess rates.
To: Forte Runningrock
I know what you mean. I had back surgery twice with good results. Having a bulging disc and sciatica is a horrible experience even with prescription pain medication.
To: sageb1
"I'm not discounting the benefit. I'm just being cranky." LoL! I understand completely. One the bright side, the surgery (if it's successful) will pay for itself in a couple years with the money you save on meds.
To: neverdem
Promising!
13
posted on
11/22/2005 9:52:35 PM PST
by
kstewskis
("Thank you ladies and gentlemen, you've been a wonderful audience" ...Rocky Rhodes)
To: Forte Runningrock
My brother started to have back problem in 12-04. He walked like a 80 year old man. His legs were always numb and he was always in pain.
He went back to Peru where we came from and it took him 9 month to decide to have surgery after all kind of treatments, Chiropractors, thermal bath, acupuncture, etc.
He was operated by two doctors and one to supervise the two. Good doctors. Peruvian doctors have good reputations. I had a major surgery there too.
The beauty of all this, no only my brother is completely heal, and walking without pain and straight, but it only cost him $5,000 dollars. The surgery took 4 hours. It was supposed to take 2 hours, but since my brother was premi. there was something else that needed correction .
I must add, prayers also works. He was very afraid to have the surgery but I prayed over that fear because the doctors told him that if he waited, it would be worse since he is now 62 years old.
Thanks to the doctors in Peru and to JESUS!!!!!!!! my brother is heal and in good spirit. P.S. one of the doctors was related to one of my brother's friend. That explain the cost but it's cheaper there even if you don't know a doctor. Maybe a few thousand more, no more than 8 K
14
posted on
11/22/2005 9:56:32 PM PST
by
Lily4Jesus
( Jesus Saves)
To: Forte Runningrock
"LoL! I understand completely..."
I figured you would. Anyone with chronic pain usually does. Thanks for the info (All - neverdem)
Sidenote: I remember going to hockey games with my littlest angel whose feet stuck straight out from her chair. Everytime she moved, her feet nudged the seat in front of her. One night, the lady who sat in that chair turned around and said, "Would you PLEASE keep your daughter still?" I thought the lady was a real beatch...I understood a lot more when I started having problems. (I would like to think I'd be more pleasant than that lady was, though).
15
posted on
11/22/2005 10:01:32 PM PST
by
sageb1
(This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
To: Lily4Jesus
I've has 2 on my back so far, plus others on my legs.
No matter haw many surgeries a person has, each one is just as worrysome as the first. I guess it because in the back of your mind, you know you are playing the odds.
You are right, a person can develop permanent nerve damage and other serious problems if it isn't watched and treated properly.
Glad your brother is doing well.
To: neverdem
About 4,000 X-stop devices have been implanted around the world, he said. Versions of the device are already available in Europe and Japan. About 400,000 Americans are affected annually by lumbar spinal stenosis.
---
Thanks FDA for finally allowing us citizens to finally use this if we so choose. /s
Can you please add me to your health/science ping.
17
posted on
11/22/2005 10:09:57 PM PST
by
traviskicks
(http://www.neoperspectives.com/gasoline_and_government.htm)
To: neverdem
This Is Your Brain Under Hypnosis: The probe, called the Stroop test, presents words in block letters in the colors red, blue, green and yellow. The subject has to press a button identifying the color of the letters. The difficulty is that sometimes the word RED is colored green. Or the word YELLOW is colored blue. Remember the Stroop test? That was fun. It says a lot about perception.
18
posted on
11/22/2005 10:10:51 PM PST
by
phantomworker
(A new day! Begin it serenely; with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense!)
To: sageb1
"A laminectomy is about $50,000."
That seems a bit steep. I had a four level lumbar spinal fusion done with two rods and eight screws three years ago, and it ran just over 75 grand. (where they removed bone fom hip for graft has given the most pain)
Had two laminectomies done about five years apart back in the 80's. They helped for a few years, then things deteriorated to the fusion thingy.
19
posted on
11/22/2005 10:26:07 PM PST
by
Ursus arctos horribilis
("It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!" Emiliano Zapata 1879-1919)
To: Ursus arctos horribilis
20
posted on
11/22/2005 10:28:15 PM PST
by
sageb1
(This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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