HI Charlotte,
How was your weekend? I hope you enjoyed yourself. As far as I know , the decision to do posterior surgery is based on the number of levels that need to be fused. Generally 1-2 levels are done anteriorly and more than that are accomplished with posterior entry. Basically the route is decided by the surgeon. Posterior route is usually avoided for the reason you mentioned, ie: the large muscle groupings. Hope this helps. As for the myelogram, the dye infiltrates the local tissues, giving much clearer picture, especially of nerve entrapments. The most common side effect is post headache, the headache can infrequently be severe , which is remedied by a blood patch. A small sample of your blood is injected at the puncture site , to stop the leaking of CSF at the site. Talk to your doc about side effects or any other questions you have, Local freezing is used.
Take care of yourself, Mel
Ps. when is your myelogram booked for?
[This message has been edited by melanie dawn (edited 01-06-2003).]
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Congenital Cervical Stenosis,complicated by:
Paracentral Disc herniations ,bone spurs C4/5,C5/6,C6/7
loss of lordotic curve
Advanced myelopathy inc. walking difficulty, loss of gag reflex with swallowing problems, neurogenic bladder, occipital neuralgia, spacticity
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