Be Safe And Avoid Spinal Fractures

Minor falls, trauma develops a spine fracture. Most of these injuries never require surgery. However, major fractures cause serious long-term problems unless treated timely and properly. There are various ranges of spinal fractures such as painful compression fractures result from minor trauma in osteoporotic patients, severe injuries such as burst fractures, and fracture-dislocations result from accidents, falls from height.

 

The cause of spinal fracture

When an external force is experienced by the spine, the force may exceed the bone’s ability within the vertebral column to sustain the load. It may cause the front area of the vertebral body to crush, following a compression fracture. Burst fracture happens when the entire vertebral column breaks out. When the compression is mild a person may experience slight pain and minimal deformity. When there is a severe compression that affects nerve roots, spinal cord the pain will be severe. As osteoporosis weakens the bone, it is being the most common cause of spinal fracture. People from the age group of 18-25 years are the 80% victims to the spinal fracture. Men are mostly prone to spinal fracture than women. Vertebral fractures are also possible with the condition of a spinal tumor.

To prevent spinal compression fracture, osteoporosis condition should be treated to make the bones stronger. There are many drugs that stop/slow the bone loss and thus reduce the risk of bone breaks. Intake of calcium supplements, taking Vitamin D in any form, quitting smoking, maintaining a normal weight, doing strength-building exercises, preventing falls are the common things to adhere to avoid spinal fractures.

The treatment plan for spinal fracture depends on the type and location of the fracture, and amount of neurologic compression. Bracing helps to treat minor fractures whereas complex fractures along with spinal compression may need traction, surgery. Rehabilitation is an important episode of the treatment plan once the spinal fracture is healed. It reduces the patients’ pain and minimizes disability.

Dr. Shyam Sundar is popular for Neurosurgery in Chennai. He is giving consultation in many Chennai based hospitals and he is experienced in performing surgery for spinal fracture in Chennai.

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Is Cranial Skull Fracture a Huge Challenge for you?

Fracture is a common medical term among most of us. At one point or the other, a member of our family might have had affected by fractures and sought medical advice. But how many of us would have heard about cranial skull fractures? Of course, it sounds a little disturbing. Any sort of break in the cranial bone or skull is considered a cranial skull fracture. The early you get medical assistance, the less the complicated it would be. It mainly occurs when the head gets a hard blow that in turn, breaks the bone. Brain injury may also result in skull fractures. Dr. Shyam Sundar K, an expert in neurosurgery is one of the best doctors available for skull fracture surgery in Chennai.

 

What is a Skull Fracture?

The skull/cranial bone act as a protective shield to safeguard our brain from trauma. The skull fracture occurs whenever the head gets in contact with a very strong force that would apparently break the skull. The symptoms of skull fracture vary from patient to patient depending upon the impact of the blow on the skull and the shape of the object that causes the impact. A few often seen symptoms include facial bruising, swelling on the affected area, bleeding from nostrils, blurred vision, nausea, fainting and loss of balance.

How to Diagnose Skull Fracture?

Once these symptoms are recognized within a patient, the appropriate nature of the damage has to be properly evaluated. This is possible through X-ray, MRI and CT scan for diagnosing skull fractures.

Treatment

The factors such as the patient’s age, medical history, health and even severity of the fracture have to be considered before finding out the right treatment for the patient. Pain medication like Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is used in order to alleviate pain, if the fracture is not severe. Else, a neurosurgery is required to put an end to the overflow of cerebrospinal fluid from nostrils. Most of the fractures heal as time moves on.
    
However, as prevention is always better than merely suffering, it is better to rely on the foremost measure to stay out of skull fractures. Wearing helmets and headgears while riding cycles and bikes is the best way possible to prevent it.

Rush to Dr. Shyam Sundar if you are battling against skull fractures so that he can offer you latest cranial fracture treatment in India in no time.

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Strokes - Diagnosis and treatments

We've all heard about the term stroke. We also know that, in India, we come across a million stroke cases. A stroke can happen to anyone and it's very much necessary to be aware of the various aspects of stroke.  Here's a brief study about the treatments and diagnosis of stroke.

Diagnosis of stroke

The doctor will check for various symptoms and signs according to which he will prescribe the treatments. He will also check the patient's blood pressure and also check for little cholesterol crystals and clots in blood vessels. Certain tests are done for precise information about the status of the stroke. They are the following:

• Blood tests: These blood tests are taken to know the time taken for the blood to clot, to check the status of the blood's sugar level and the balance of the chemicals. These factors will be managed according to the data received from the tests.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): The MRI is used to obtain a detailed view of your brain. Any brain tissue damage caused by an ischemic stroke and brain hemorrhages can be detected by such a method. A dye is injected into the blood vessels to get a detailed view of the arteries, veins and also the blood flow.
• Computerized tomography (CT) scan: A sequence of Xrays are used to create detailed views of the image. The CT scan detects tumor, stroke and various other conditions. A dye is injected into the bloodstream to get a clear view of the blood vessels in the neck and the brain.

Treatments

The treatment depends on what kind of stroke the patient has I.e whether it is an ischemic stroke or hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemic stroke is the common one where the artery is blocked and hemorrhagic is the kind of stroke that involves bleeding into the brain. Here are some treatments according to the type of stroke.

Ischemic stroke - Quick treatments ought to be provided in order to reduce risks.

* Intravenous injection of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA): This emergency treatment involves medications.  Tpa also called the alteplase is considered as one of the best treatments for ischemic stroke. This injection is given via a vein in patient's arm. The drug dissolves the blood clot that causes the stroke and the blood flow is restored.

* Direct delivering of medications into the brain: This is an endovascular emergency procedure. A catheter is inserted via the artery into that area of the brain which suffered stroke to deliver tpa. This procedure is known as the intra-arterial thrombolysis.

Hemorrhagic stroke - The main focus of the treatment is to control bleeding and reducing the pressure in the brain.

Warfarin and anti-platelet drugs can be used to stop blood clots. But when these drugs are used, another set of drugs are given to curb the blood thinners effect. Drugs are given to reduce the pressure in the brain as well.

The doctor can also recommend surgery to treat the abnormal conditions of the blood vessels as a result of the stroke. The surgeries usually recommended are endovascular embolization, surgical clipping, surgical AVM removal etc.

For first rated and reliable treatment for strokes, do visit Dr. Shyam Sundar K for  effective stroke treatment in Chennai.

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Stay Painless with Spinal Fusion Surgery

Spinal fusion is a surgical procedure in which one or more vertebrae of the spine are fused together to stop them from movement. Spinal fusion surgery is performed by placing bone graft material between the affected vertebrae. The bone graft material works as a binding medium and also aids in maintaining normal disc height. Once the body starts to heal, the vertebral bone and graft grow together to join the vertebrae, stabilize the spine.

Why is Spinal Fusion performed?

Spinal fusion treatment connects vertebrae in the spine. It improves stability, reduces pain, and corrects deformity. A Neurosurgeon may recommend spinal fusion for certain spinal problems:

Spondylolisthesis: In this case, one vertebra slips forward and falls on the vertebra below it. When this condition causes severe back pain, leg pain, and numbness, then Spondylolisthesis is performed.

Spine deformities: Scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, and, Kyphosis, an abnormal rounding of the upper spine are corrected with spinal fusion.

Spinal weakness or instability: When there is an excessive motion occurs between two vertebrae, then the spine may turn unstable. This condition is a common side effect of severe spinal arthritis. In such cases, spinal fusion helps to restore the spinal stability.

Broken vertebrae: It is not necessary that all broken vertebrae need spinal fusion whereas some heal without any surgical intervention. But, when a broken vertebra makes the spine unstable, then spinal fusion surgery is quite necessary to restore the stability of the spine

Herniated disc: After removing a herniated disk, spine fusion may be performed for the spine stabilization.

Injuries, tumors, and infections might need a spinal fusion intervention.

How is Spinal Fusion performed?

The Neurosurgeon performs spinal fusion under general anesthesia. The bone graft will be prepared to fuse the two vertebrae. Autograft/allograft/synthetic bone is used for bone grafting. An incision is made in the targeted area. The bone graft is placed between the affected vertebrae to join them. Sometimes, the graft material is inserted with the help of special cages between the vertebrae. After placing the bone graft, plates, screws, and rods are used to keep the spine away from the movement. The added stability helps the spine to heal faster with a higher rate of success. The spinal fusion surgery takes up to 4 hours.

Perfect destination for Spinal Fusion Surgery India

Dr. Shyam Sundar K is a leading Neurosurgeon in Chennai who has been treating all kinds of neurological problems successfully. He is an expert in Spinal fusion surgery Chennai.

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Don’t Stay With Herniated Disc Pain

A ruptured (or) herniated disc is caused when any one of the spinal discs develops a crack within its tough outer wall and the material present in the inner disc is pushed out into the spinal canal. If any displaced disc material put pressure on the spinal the pain will result in other associated symptoms.

Causes of herniated disc

• Regular lifting of heavy items
• Prolonged exposure to vibration
• Malnutrition
• Excess weight
• Sudden trauma, injury or accidents such as hard fall, blow at the back
• Congenital abnormalities in the spine
• Lack of physical activity and exercise

Common symptoms of Ruptured disc

Some people may experience a few or no symptoms. However, if the person has any nerve compression/irritation, the following symptoms would occur:

• Numbness/Tingling
• Loss of movement
• Calf muscle pain
• Neck/Back pain
• Burning/shooting pain in the injured area
• Pain radiates to the legs
• Pain worsens at the night time/while standing/sitting/walking for prolonged hours

Diagnosis of Ruptured disc

Besides, regular clinical and physical examination, the patient is advised to undergo X-Ray, CT and MRI scan to confirm the presence of the ruptured disc, and its present condition etc. After ascertaining the severity and location of the ruptured disc, an accurate treatment is planned to save the patient from the deteriorating condition and excruciating pain.

Treatment for ruptured disc

Generally, herniated disc patients are treated based on their pain condition. Conservative treatments like medicines, physiotherapy, exercises, muscle-relaxants, NSAIDs, hot and cold fomentation are prescribed. If the patient still suffers from pain, then surgery such as microdiscectomy or laminectomy is performed to relieve the pain and other symptoms.

1. Laminectomy:

It is a type of back surgery performed to relieve the spinal cord compression. The surgeon performs the surgery under anesthesia. The Neurosurgeon will remove the lamina which is a part of the bone and it forms vertebral arches in the spine. Along with lamina, bone spurs are also removed. Since these structures cause pressure on the nerve root/spinal cord, they are completely removed.

2. Microdiscectomy

In this surgical procedure, herniated portion of the disc is removed under general anesthesia. This procedure is typically used when the herniated disc is needed to be treated but not necessarily to be removed from the spine. Artificial disc/wire fusions are used to replace the herniated disc. Microdiscectomy completely negates pain.

Dr. Shyam Sundar is a leading neurosurgeon in Chennai, who specialized in dealing with different conditions related to brain and spine. He provides treatmentand diagnosis for Ruptured Disc in Chennai.

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BRAIN TUMOR DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

A tumor is the swelling of a part of the body; they may occur without an inflammation and can be benign or malignant. A tumor is caused by an abnormal growth of tissue– solid or liquid- filled– in the affected area. All tumors are not cancerous.

Brain Tumor:

A tumor in the brain can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). They can occur at any age.

The exact causes of brain tumors are unknown to researchers and doctors. However, risk factors include:

Family history of tumors

Exposure to ionizing radiations from X-rays for example

They can be caused by cancer that begins elsewhere.

SYMPTOMS

The onset of headaches which become more and more frequent and severe.

Unexplained nausea and vomiting

Difficulty in balance

Vision and hearing gets affected

Confusions 

Personality and behavioral changes

Seizures.

DIAGNOSIS

On the onset of the above-mentioned symptoms, a Neurologist will do the diagnosis using a neurologic exam, CT scan, MRI, angiogram, spinal tap or biopsy.

TREATMENT

Depending on the age of the patient, the location and size of the tumor and the grade of the tumor, the neurosurgeon may suggest the following treatments:

• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy

Dr. Shyam Sundar. K is one of the renowned neurosurgeon experts of diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors; he has an experience of 8 years and is sure to give the best advice and treatment. Dr. Shyam Sundar has several successful surgeries to his credit.

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