ANTERIOR HYBRID SURGERY

Anterior hybrid surgery requires an incision in your abdomen typically via the left side, slightly larger to facilitate a two level procedure. A specialized surgical approach and dissection is performed to access and expose the anterior spine anywhere from L2, L3, L4, L4, S1. Here three vertebral levels will be accessed. Once surgical access is achieved to the area where the damaged discs or other disease is present, a spine surgeon removes the diseased discs (two of them). At one of the spinal levels, the surgeon will insert an artificial disc device into the interspace and between the vertebral endplates where the diseased disc was removed. At the other level, the surgeon inserts a replaces the disceased disc with a spacer (bone wedge, bone graft, metallic spacer, cage, or other synthetic material) and bone graft added to the interior of the spacer and/or along its outer surface in order to initiate a fusion of the bones at this level.

The surgical site is sutured closed.

The patient is typically in the hospital for up to 3 days, and then requires a recovery period for 2 weeks with lighter than normal activities. During the time up to 3 months the bone graft heals to a solid mass of bone connecting the two vertebral bodies through the area were the disc was removed (much like a fracture heals). The instrumentation that was placed at surgery provides stability over the healing interval after the surgery until the bone is completely healed. This type of fusion surgery once healed prevents mechanical instability.