Question
Hi. I am scheduled for spinal fusion of L4-L5 using the spire plate in less than 2 weeks. There's not much info on internet relative to the spire plate. What do you know about this kind of fusion? The surgeon said she could use bone taken out when she goes in to remove a synovial cyst from the area. . .will that be enough bone? Is it possible she may need to get bone from elsewhere on my body during surgery? I had a lumbar laminectomy in the same area in 1995. How will the spire plate system work if some bone has already been removed? What can I expect relative to pain right after and in weeks following? I may need fusion on my foot from a lisfranc fracture. . .how soon after this back surgery can I schedule the foot surgery? Thank you so much!

Answer
The SPIRE plate is easy to implant and is associated with minimal operative risk. Compared with BPS/rod constructs, SPIRE plate fixation leads to less blood loss during surgery and shorter operative time, without an increase in the rate of pseudarthrosis. Hospital length of stay is also shorter in SPIRE plate-treated patients, which is consistent with the goals of minimal access spinal technologies.

Using the bone from the area might be enough but I can't really say because I don't know your specific case.  Bone can also be taken from the crest of the pelvis near the hip or cadaver bone can be used.  Your surgeon should brief you on these items if they are a possibility.

The plate system should work fine with the removed bone because they're putting in more bone for the fusion.

Your last two questions are difficult to answer because I really don't know your medical history.  People have different levels of pain tolerance and different rates of healing so I can't really say how much pain to expect or how soon afterward to schedule the foot surgery.  I think that your surgeon can give you the best answers on those questions since she knows your full history.

Thank you for your question, Mary.  I hope that my  answer was helpful.