Jeff Langmaid challenges the idea that a solid spinal fusion can't cause pain. He argues the vertebral end plates at the fused level stay biologically active and can generate pain signals even years after surgery.
We're going to talk about something I think is interesting because it challenges an assumption. And that assumption is if a segment has been fused, then whatever's been happening at that level is kind of done. Motion's gone, surgery's been completed. If there's no hardware failure, it seems as though we'd look towards the adjacent segment. If it's in the lumbar spine, maybe the SI joints, the facets, maybe muscular pain. But what if the level fused itself can still generate pain? And more specifically, What if the vertebral end plates at that fused level can remain biologically active, can remain nociceptive and painful even decades after the fusion? That's what we're looking at today.
