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A question about cervical surgery & lucency - Bummer Knees - 03-24-2011 08:42 PM
I had an ACDF Valentine's Day.
Had my first x-ray yesterday.
I received the written report today and I have a question about it.
...........................
The report reads:
There is an anterior plate with screws present at each level.
There is a bone plug within the disc space. There is persistent lucency between the bone plug and the adjacent vertebral endplates.
.............................
My question is what is lucency and is this normal following cervical surgery?
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Have a good day.
RE: A question about cervical surgery & lucency - bodybuilder1958 - 03-25-2011 12:27 AM
Lucency here usually means darkness, no bone seen.
You had grafted bone and it's still early in recovery. I would imagine that new bone has yet to grow around the screws and plates. I don't know how normal this is 5 weeks post operative. Something to ask your surgeon next week.
People heal at different rates, this may be perfectly normal.
Take care,
Bodybuilder1958
RE: A question about cervical surgery & lucency - AQA - 03-25-2011 12:29 AM
It means that the x-ray showed a space between the bone plug and the vertebrea. Which means that the bone marrow has not yet fused to the upper and lower vertebrea. It is nothing to worry about. I recall on my 6 month follow up, looking at the films of my spine and talking to the dr.. He pointed out that the bone marrow had not fused yet, but it was growing, I was able to see that thier was a very small space between the marrow and the vertebraes.
RE: A question about cervical surgery & lucency - Bummer Knees - 03-25-2011 10:09 AM
Thanks Bodybuilder & AQA, makes me feel a little better.
I did find one forum where the patient said there was lucency on her films at 3 months but at 9 months it wasn't there.
I am very fortunate to have a neurosurgeon who I trust and will ask him this question.
RE: A question about cervical surgery & lucency - Cervical_Fusion - 03-25-2011 04:15 PM
Bummer I remember with my first and second the surgeon said it can take up to a year to tell for sure on these surgreys