I think Heuy Lewis says, "I want a new drug!"
The 'drive thru surgery' mentioned is horrific. The worst case I know if is a 3-level cervical case with severe degeneration, large osteophytes; the whole 9 yards. Operative time for a 3-level was 70 minutes. This is a joke. The important part of the surgery (posterior decompression) was not addressed at all. The patient wound up paying for a 2nd surgery to have the m6's removed and replaced with ProDisc-C's with good result. However, that came after additional YEARS of spinal cord compression, suffering, more permananent damage bacause of the wait, etc...
I wish we could say that they have learned about their problems, but what I see is a steady stream of these outrageous, hurried, and careless surgeries that are incomplete at best.
I will always backpeddle and say that I know many stenum successes, just like I know horror stories from all the surgeons I know and love. However, there is a difference between the horror stories that will sometimes occur even in the best of circumstances; and the horror stories that are directly attributed to the cavalier attitude that lets them complete what should be a 4 hours in 70 minutes.
There is nothing wrong with the M6. It is not my disc of choice for several reasons... especially in multi-level configurations. Having said that, IMHO, all the discs are likely to be successes if properly implanted in a properly selected patient. For some reason, some doctors experience high incidence of HO (auto fusion, heterotopic ossification), while others experience almost none.
I have to go... sorry I've not been here much. My responsibilites overwhelm my capacity to work... still quite limited. I do worse at home than on the road. I'll be traveling again next week... hopefully I can catch up with the forum then.
Mark
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