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MICHIGAN ORTHOPEDICS
As one of the top Michigan orthopedic hospitals and with nationally renowned joint care and foot and ankle programs, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland serves as a model for hospitals across the country. Our Michigan doctors specialize in everything from custom knee replacement to hip replacements to shoulder injuries and even wrist fractures.
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CLICK HERE FOR A FREE COPY
OF THE MEDICAL REPORT
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THE FACTS ABOUT Kyphoplasty
Background
Osteoporosis and some forms of cancer cause more than 700,000spinal fractures each year in the United States. Most common among elderly women with osteoporosis, these fractures can occur even with little or no trauma to the body. If not treated,however, multiple spinal fractures remain painful, make the spine shorter, and cause a permanent hunched back posture.
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Podcast Posted: 09/10/2007
Duration:
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More importantly, over time these fractures may compress the lungs and abdomen – resulting in pain, breathing problems,reduced activity and mobility, and ultimately a shorter life.
Kyphoplasty is an exciting new minimally-invasive technique for curing the pain and deformities associated with spinal fractures.The procedure takes about one hour to complete and usually requires an overnight hospital stay – so that patients may be observed for any complications. Covered by Medicare and most other insurance plans, this innovative technique can save days and weeks of hospital or nursing home care.
“Most of my patients who’ve had this procedure return to normal activities immediately after surgery, with no bed rest and significantly less pain,” says Bruce Henderson, MD and SJMO orthopedic surgeon. “After performing this technique for almost four years, it still astounds me how quickly most patients get right out of bed and resume their normal life.”
Until recently, the only treatment available for spinal fractures was pain medication and a prolonged two to four month recovery –often in a nursing home. Although physicians have tried braces,the devices offer very little relief.
“Most people fail to appreciate how the practice of medicine is continually reinventing itself,” says Henderson, MD. “New technologies are frequently developed by innovative doctors that allow us to fix something that was previously ntreatable.Kyphoplasty is yet another example of a new procedure that radically changes how we can treat a painful and deforming condition.” St. Joseph Mercy Oakland is the second hospital in Michigan to offer the procedure.
Moreover, fifty percent of patients with a vertebral compression fracture will require another Kyphoplasty within one year. “That’s why I recommend patients undergo a careful evaluation and treatment of underlying osteoporosis to prevent future fractures,” says Henderson, MD.
Please call the SJMO physician referral line at 800.372.6094 to find an SJMO orthopedic surgeon near you.
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