Has anyone had the ACDF surgery on their neck?

@chcruzin and @artemis1886
I may have laminectomy on my lumbar spine which gives more room for your spinal cord. My understanding is fusion is needed and metal supports if the spine needs to be stabilized. I can feel my lumbar vertebrae moving around when I twist which makes me feel I may need fusion/stabilizing of my spine. The excess movement may cause more pressure on nerve roots. If you get laminectomy you can hold off and get fusion/hardware later, if needed.

Thanks. I'll ask UofM if it is an option for my condition.

I hope it works well for you.

@chcruzin
P.S. I took a couple days off after my ACDF surgery but was back working on my laptop and attending virtual meetings in bed. I really don’t recall a difficult recovery and was off pain medication fairly quickly. The one thing I did get was bursitis pain in my left hip which I was told this can happen after spine surgery (may cause inflammation beyond the surgical site). That was painful and never had it before but I took ibuprofen and used cold compresses to help calm it down.

Isn't ACDF surgery were they put a cage to hold the vertebrates. My Dr. Said it would limit my neck movement.

@chcruzin
Yes, ACDF surgery is done entering the front (anterior) of your neck and removes damaged discs and replaces it with a “cement” made using some of your own bone (if you have bone spurs removed) to fuse your vertebrae together. A titanium cage is used around the level of the ACDF surgery to provide additional support. The more levels you have fused, the more restriction of neck movement. I had only one level done (C5C6) and my movement is not that restricted. Movement in your neck is good when you don’t have pain. Too much movement due to slipped discs/vertebrae where spinal cord and nerve roots causes further injury and pain so you need to make a decision on whether movement with pain is more important to you than some restricted movement and less pain/injury.

Thanks for all of the information. I am going through PT for my neck pain and diagnostic injections to find the location that’s causing shock like pain when I turn my head a certain way. The worst pain is on my left, the worst damage in MRI shows on the right. Once diagnostic tests are completed they will do an ablation.
If I end up having a fusion, it’s good to know the results can be less pain with movement still possible .

@ga29
Do you have any bladder control issues, heaviness in your legs while walking, or notice yourself dropping things or your handwriting worse than normal? That can be caused by your cervical spine. It sounds like something is pressing on your spinal cord/nerve roots to cause the electrical shock like pains. I have had those and they are terrible.

@chcruzin
Yes, ACDF surgery is done entering the front (anterior) of your neck and removes damaged discs and replaces it with a “cement” made using some of your own bone (if you have bone spurs removed) to fuse your vertebrae together. A titanium cage is used around the level of the ACDF surgery to provide additional support. The more levels you have fused, the more restriction of neck movement. I had only one level done (C5C6) and my movement is not that restricted. Movement in your neck is good when you don’t have pain. Too much movement due to slipped discs/vertebrae where spinal cord and nerve roots causes further injury and pain so you need to make a decision on whether movement with pain is more important to you than some restricted movement and less pain/injury.

A little bit of bladder issues. No cement legs. But pain in my right arm