With the exception of cold and flu, backaches send more people to the doctor than any other ailment.
With the exception of cold and flu, backaches send more people to the doctor than any other ailment.
Thirty-three-year-old, mother of two, Sonam Shah (name changed) was suffering from a backache six years. “I almost gave up life. The pain was debilitating. I couldn’t do simple things like going for a walk or go shopping,” said the London-resident, recovering at Lilavati Hospital after a spinal surgery that has now given her a new lease of life. “We came to India as a last resort. We consulted a number of experts in the UK, but their prognosis was not positive. Indian doctors are more positive in their outlook when it comes to surgery,” said Atul Shah, Sonam’s husband, who owns a sweetshop in Leister.
Vinod Agrawal, consultant spine surgeon, Lilavati Hospital, then explained a revolutionary spinal therapy: Infuse Bonegraft to the Shahs. Degenerative disc disease, that Sonam suffered from, is a disorder of the spine that occurs when discs in the spine are damaged.
The pain emanates from the damaged discs themselves or is cause by the discs or bone impinging on nearby nerve roots or the spinal cord,” explained Agrawal, adding that anybody leading a sedentary life could suffer from the condition. Spinal fusion, where two or more vertebrae are welded to eliminate pain caused by a damaged disc in the spine, is often the only effective method to treat degenerative disc disease.
To fuse the vertebrae together, surgeons traditionally insert pieces of the patient’s own bone between the vertebrae to prompt the body to grow new bone. This involves two surgeries: one to chip off small pieces of bone from the patient’s hip and another to insert them into the spine. However, studies have shown that the bone grafting procedure can be more painful than the fusion itself, pointed out the spinal surgeon.
The new technique Infuse bonegraft, however, eliminated the painful harvesting surgery as it contains a protein which induces the body to grow its own bone where it is needed.
“The protein is a manufactured version of a natural protein normally found in small quantities in the body. The purpose of the protein is to stimulate bone formation,” explained Agrawal. This is a more patient-friendly therapy as surgeons no longer are forced to cause pain in one part of the body to cure it in another, he added.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}