Neurosurgeon is spelled XLIF - Mercy Medical Center

THE MERCYtouch 21

“I’ve done it all,” she says. “I had physicaltherapy, massage therapy, chiropractic treatmentand epidural shots.” But her pain wasunrelenting. One of the discs in her lower spinehad deteriorated, she explains, causing thevertebrae to press on her spinal nerve.

“I had severe pain around my back and sidethat interrupted my sleep every night,” sherecalls. “By the time I got up in the morning Ihad to struggle to loosen up enough just to go towork.”

Adrienne was referred to David Segal, MD, aneurosurgeon practicing at Mercy MedicalCenter who is using a surgical procedure calledXLIF (eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion) tobring relief to people suffering from chronicback pain. Adrienne finally found relief from heragonizing pain.

Dr. Segal explains that degeneration ofspinal discs results in compression or instabilitythat may cause pain ranging from mild todebilitating. For patients with severe pain thatdoesn’t respond to other forms of treatment,surgery is used as a last resort to fuse the spinalvertebrae together to relieve the rubbing orpressure.

Using the XLIF procedure, Dr. Segal worksthrough two small incisions in the patient’s side.Guided by a fluoroscope continuous X-ray andusing a neuro-monitoring system to avoid

impacting nerves, he is able to clean out theremaining disc and tap in a kind of manufacturedbone – a ceramic piece that induces fusion –between the vertebrae.

Compared to traditional lumbar fusionsurgery, the procedure requires shorter surgerytimes, less tissue damage and blood loss, andshorter hospitalization, allowing for a more rapidreturn to normal activities.

After undergoing XLIF, patients generallyspend two nights in the hospital and may haveminor pain for a day or two, but most are able toreturn to work within a couple of weeks. “I’mreluctant to recommend traditional fusionsbecause of the magnitude of the surgery and thehealing process,” Dr. Segal says. “This opens upfusion surgery for many more people because itis less invasive.”

Adrienne says she was eager to try the newapproach. “Dr. Segal explained it extremely well.I felt really comfortable with it, and I washopeful and anxious to give it a shot because Iwas in so much pain.”

Her post-surgical relief was so dramatic thatshe was afraid it wouldn’t last. “They got me upthat night, and the pain was gone. I was holdingmy breath thinking that it would come back afterthe anesthesia wore off and the pain medicinewas gone, but it never has – not even a twinge.”

Adrienne Dobbins had tried a wide range ofremedies to relieve her excruciating lower back pain.

Pain reliefis spelled XLIF

Adrienne Dobbins is pain-free and back to work.

20 SPRING 2011 www.mercycare.org

David Segal, MDNeurosurgeon

Watch for Dr. Segal in an upcoming PBS educationaldocumentary called "The World of Neuro-Surgery,”

hosted by Joan Lunden.