Complex Spinal Fusion Surgery The Department of Neurosurgery at
Boston Medical Center provides comprehensive surgical treatment
of the spine, back and neck. Treatment for brain and spine
problems depends on the severity of the problem or injury. For
example, immediate surgery may be necessary to determine the
extent of a spinal injury, relieve pressure or stabilize a
fracture to prevent future deterioration and avoid long-term
pain or disability. In addition, patients who suffer from
advanced degenerative disease of the spine, as well as scoliosis
and other kinds of spine deformities, may require complex spinal
fusion operations. Such operations use titanium screws to
immobilize joints of the spine that are thought to cause pain
through mechanisms such as arthritis or spinal instability. In
both cases, bones and joints of the spine are moving abnormally.
The goal of a fusion operation is to reduce such patients'
motion-related pain, by locking those bones in place so that the
body can convert the abnormally m