We hear a lot myths and bad advice tossed about on the Internet. We would expect this from people new to spine surgery and even marketers for certain medical devices, but some of the sources of these myths are surprising. We encourage readers to send in statements they hear or read, which don't exactly sound right. Perhaps we can post and respond to the suspect ideas here. Here are listed some of myths and then the reality.

M. All I need is a total discectomy to cure my disc problems. Once the discectomy is done the bones will fill in the intervertebral space. (We know of one spine surgeon saying this).
R. Both ADR and fusion surgery were developed to restore the intervertebral space and decompress the radiating nerves from the spine and the facet joint and the nerves associated with the facet joint.

M. AMP vertebroplasty should be done in every patient to prevent subsidence. (We know of one spine surgeon saying this).
R. AMP vertebroplasty has its risks, mostly the leaking of the ceramic material into the spinal canal through a defect in the bone. That would result in an emergency surgery to remove the ceramic material from the spinal canal. Statistics show, that if this were done on every patient, more patients would be harmed than helped.

M. Subsidence only occurs in ADR surgery.
R. Subsidence also occurs in fusion surgery. Newer versions of most ADRs have broader endplates to further reduce the chance of subsidence.

M. The high-density, cross-linked polyethylene core of the ProDisc is just a piece of plastic, which will easily break or deteriorate. (We know of one spine surgeon saying this to patients, but he probably got the idea from a medical device marketer)
R. High-density, cross-linked polyethylene has been in the human body for 40 years and is chemically inert. It is extremely durable.

M. “Back surgery will make my back like was when I was 18 years old”
R. There is no substitute for a young healthy back and surgery can never restore a back to its optimal youthful condition, if the patient ever had such a back. However, surgery can greatly reduce the pain of a patient and restore function. In some cases like cervical myelopathy, surgery will be responsible for saving the patient's life.

M. “One back surgery will cure all my back problems, now and in the future”
R. While this can be true for many patients, particularly trauma patients, most of our cases deal with spondolysis and its nephew degenerative disc disease. These degenerative conditions continue throughout the patient’s life and it is impossible to predict the rate of progress for an individual patient.

M. “Back surgery is 100% successful in every patient”
R. No surgical intervention is 100% successful in every patient.