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Chapter 1 - The Basic Tools and Terminology of Spine Treatment
Book chapter

Chapter 1 - The Basic Tools and Terminology of Spine Treatment

S.M. Kurtz and A.A. Edidin
Spine Technology Handbook, pp 1-9
2006
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012369390-7/50002-2

Abstract

Technology-based therapies form the foundation of modern spinal disorder treatments. Such therapies may be pharmaceutical, biological, or mechanical, but they are all primarily focused on relieving chronic, intractable back pain. While specific modalities are effective to a degree, the aggregate spine disease treatment remains problematic in that there are few clear technological solutions that can completely alleviate chronic back pain, especially when due to advanced disc degeneration. In the late stages of spine degenerative disease, implant technology has shown potential to relieve some, but not all, back pain. Early intervention with new spine implant technologies has the potential to mitigate and possibly forestall the painful cascade of degenerative changes that occur with age. The primary standard treatment for intractable back pain unresponsive to nonsurgical treatment is decompression and fusion, which consists of immobilizing the spine using bone graft, metal plates or rods, and screws. Because fusion is irreversible and stops all motion at the implanted level, it can be perceived as an end-stage procedure, naturally opening the opportunities for many earlier-stage motion-preserving technologies for treating the diseased spine. Motion-preservation technologies cover a wide range of techniques, including nucleus repair, total disc replacement, and vertebral fracture repair. Novel motion-preserving technologies, many of which are still under design, require innovative implants and instruments for deployment in the body.

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