Does xrays always show if the cervical fusion took.

[countrydi]

I have had 4,5,and 6 fused in 2010. The xrays kept showing that everything was fused. I kept telling my doctor that I was having too much pain. Was referred by the doctor I work for to Cleveland Clinic for his opinion and he stated he would be able to make sure if he did surgery. After surgery he stated that both was non union. My question is now I still have alot of pain, how do I know for sure if this one took or there is some reason I am not sure what to do. They keep saying that the xrays look fine like the first surgeon. Help please any advice is appreciated.

[Ginger077]

I agree about the pain thing. It did not relieve my pain, it made it worse and now I'm disabled in my 30's.

[Kalvin]

A couple of things, when had my 1st Cervical fusion, they X- rayed me like 3 or 4 times. I think it was @ 2, 6 and 12 weeks but I'm not positive.The first time, I actually fused @ 12 weeks, it's not that common but it can happen.

If they suspect there is a non- union they will generally do a CT scan, which is much better than an MRI due to the artifact distortion.

Did someone tell you that if you have a solid fusion you won't have any pain?  Because nothing could be further from the truth. When fully fused, the Surgeon will generally consider the surgery a success and release you, regardless of your pain level. I was in horrible pain months after I fused with both of my ACDF's, particularly the 1st one, there's a lot of other factors involved.

[Ginger077]

The surgeons I've seen for my fusion could tell that my fusion was solid by X-ray. I'm not sure why your dr had to go back in to check this. Even if your fusion is successful you can still have pain. There is only about a 50/50 chance that you will have pain relief from the surgery. Were you given a bone growth stimulator to wear? It's supposed to be worn 4 hrs a day. Did they use your bone or donor bone? If you are concerned you have another non union I would definetly look into getting a second opinion. I don't think that your back should of been opened just to see if there was a problem or not. Yes if you had a non union you would need an additional surgery but again the doctor should of been able to tell you this by looking at your x ray films.