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What kind of surgery is common after a spinal cord injury? - David Chen, MD

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What kind of surgery is common after a spinal cord injury?

David Chen, MD

Medical Director, Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
Read Bio More Videos by David Chen
Transcript
So surgery that’s done after a spinal cord injury is generally done for two primary reasons. One is if there is, in the judgment of a surgeon treating an individual with a spinal cord injury, that there appears to be on going compression, or pr... Show More

So surgery that’s done after a spinal cord injury is generally done for two primary reasons. One is if there is, in the judgment of a surgeon treating an individual with a spinal cord injury, that there appears to be on going compression, or pressure on the spinal cord, then often times surgery will be done to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord—with the hopes that, by relieving the compression of the spinal cord, that any additional or further damage to the spinal cord is minimized, and hopefully allows those nerves that have survived the initial injury, to recover. The second reason to, that’s often times to do surgery is, if as a result of the injury, there is some deformity in the alignment of the spine that could potentially lead to further problems in the future, a surgeon will often times do surgery to correct the malalignment, and to fuse the spine in order to maintain stability and prevent further damage.

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What kind of surgery is common after a spinal cord injury?

David Chen, MD

Medical Director, Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

 More Videos by David Chen
Transcriptadd

So surgery that’s done after a spinal cord injury is generally done for two primary reasons. One is if there is, in the judgment of a surgeon treating an individual with a spinal cord injury, that there appears to be on going compression, or pressure on the spinal cord, then often times surgery will be done to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord—with the hopes that, by relieving the compression of the spinal cord, that any additional or further damage to the spinal cord is minimized, and hopefully allows those nerves that have survived the initial injury, to recover. The second reason to, that’s often times to do surgery is, if as a result of the injury, there is some deformity in the alignment of the spine that could potentially lead to further problems in the future, a surgeon will often times do surgery to correct the malalignment, and to fuse the spine in order to maintain stability and prevent further damage.

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What kind of surgery is common after a spinal cord injury?
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