Spinal fusion (overview)

Changed by Henry Knipe, 10 Jul 2021

Updates to Article Attributes

Body was changed:

Show markup changes

Spinal fusion is a broad term to denote the joining of two or more adjacent vertebral segments. Fusion can be congenital or acquired as a direct result of disease or deliberately following spinal surgery.

Congenital fusion

Fusion of two or more adjacent segments is encountered either as an isolated, usually incidental, finding or in a variety of conditions with multiple other defects.

Klippel-Feil syndrome

Acquired fusion

Many disease processes can result in fusion of adjacent vertebrae including:

Operative fusion

Numerous procedures have been developed over the years to fuse spinal segments to treat a variety of conditions (e.g. spondylolisthesis, unstable spinal fractures, disc protrusions). It should be noted that it is osseous fusion that confers long-term stability and that fusion solely with instrumentation will eventually fail ¹.

Hardware

A number of components are used to achieve fusion. These include ¹:

connecting rods
Hartshill rectangles
interbody spacers/cages
laminar hooks
plates
screws
- pedicle screws
- facet joint screws
- translaminar screws
vertebral body replacement devices
wires

Techniques

One or more of the above-mentioned components can be utilised to achieve fusion. Some of the more common procedures include:

posterolateral lumbar fusion

~~-<li><a href="/articles/lateral-lumbar-interbody-fusion-llif">lateral/eXtreme/direct lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF/XLIF/DLIF)</a></li>~~
+<li><a href="/articles/lateral-lumbar-interbody-fusion-llif">lateral/eXtreme/direct lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF/XLIF/DLIF)</a></li>
+<li><a title="Posterolateral lumbar fusion" href="/articles/posterolateral-lumbar-fusion">posterolateral lumbar fusion</a></li>

ADVERTISEMENT: Supporters see fewer/no ads

{"current_user":null,"inclusions":[{"imageId":13198,"studyId":6758,"caseSlug":"congenital-c34-fusion","caption":"Case 1: congenital isolated fusion","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/13198/c5cecbe9813a9116457dc9d5db2eaa_big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_substantiated"},{"imageId":23407503,"studyId":50247,"caseSlug":"ankylosing-spondylitis-39","caption":"Case 2: ankylosing spondylitis","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/23407503/597e255c92f8c022f50e90908a1eca_big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_substantiated"},{"imageId":17154153,"studyId":43533,"caseSlug":"klippel-feil-syndrome-with-sprengel-deformity-1","caption":"Case 3: Klippel-Feil syndrome","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/17154153/6a953e01746c1570b594b0dedc8d06_big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_substantiated"},{"imageId":8357912,"studyId":31803,"caseSlug":"lumbar-spinal-fusion","caption":"Case 4: PLIF and posterior instrumentation","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/8357912/fd24d52e0e6e04e34f4ee5250c2088_big_gallery.jpg","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"},{"imageId":14232547,"studyId":40109,"caseSlug":"anterior-cervical-discectomy-and-fusion-acdf-1","caption":"Case 5: ACDF","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/14232547/e25401e01711f0e750c71c88eed9d19a877facdffbf5211c08e7fe9732443bba_big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_substantiated"},{"imageId":54818870,"studyId":105272,"caseSlug":"peek-cervical-cage-fusion-1","caption":"Case 6: PEEK cervical cage fusion","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/54818870/0._big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_unsubstantiated"},{"imageId":55980683,"studyId":111602,"caseSlug":"cotrel-dubousset-lumbar-spine-instrumentation","caption":"Case 7: Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/55980683/110002_big_gallery.jpeg","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"not_applicable"}],"ddx_inclusions":[],"lang":"us"}