Spine surgeon consultation starts with a careful look at your neck and back problems and the events that led to your current situation. The way we encourage you to describe your symptoms gives us a fairly good idea of your problem. We would like to know your past medical history, any allergies and your current medications.
History and Examination:
A good history of your problem and physical examination will guide us to direct appropriate blood tests and investigations. Any information on your previous test or investigations, physiotherapy, injections and surgery will be very useful.
Investigation:
The Spine Surgeon in london will need further investigations like an MRI scan. The spine surgeon consultation will carefully identify, explain and discuss the pathology and the cause for your back or neck pain on the MRI scan.
An accurate diagnosis of the condition is possible if the physical examination and history matches the features on the MRI scan. Once the diagnosis is made, the spine surgeon will discuss the details of the management with you and present you the options in his professional opinion.
Advice:
Most neck and back pain and initially managed with medication and physiotherapy rehabilitation. Occasionally, your neck or back pain may be so severe that a steroid injection may be needed to get your pain under control followed by physiotherapy rehabilitation. These injections also give us valuable information on the seriousness of the problem. Your clinical progress is monitored over the next 3 to 6 months and if the pain comes back a further repeat injection may be suggested.
A repeat MRI scan may be needed if there is a change in the character of your pain or if your pain is persistent with no relief from those injections. Rarely, a surgical procedure may be indicated if your neck or back pain is not controlled by physiotherapy, medications or injections.
This spine surgeon will outline the need for surgical intervention and explain the details of the surgical procedure along with the risks and complications that may arise during the procedure. You will be encouraged to ask questions to make sure that you have no concerns or complaints regarding the plan for the surgical procedure.
Here is a list of questions to help guide you in your Spine surgeon consultation:
It may sound rude to ask your surgeon about his skills. Most surgeons in the UK are well qualified. The NHS trust where they are currently employed has very tough recruitment process for appointment of a Consultant Spine Surgeon. The surgeon’s qualifications and advanced fellowship training will be made available to you.
There are patient reviews on Google review, iWantGreatCare, Doctify and Top Doctors in the UK. These will give you a good idea on the skills, professionalism and manners of the Surgeon.
On your surgeon’s skills and qualifications:
- Are you board certified?
- Are you fellowship trained?
- What are you results for this procedure?
- Do you have any Spine Registry data?
- If I need a second opinion, would you provide details of the surgeon?
- Is it possible to talk to any patients who had this procedure so far?
Questions on your Surgery:
- What are my non-surgical options?
- What is the natural course of my condition?
- What is the type of surgery and why do you recommend it?
- Can you explain the surgical procedure in detail?
- Please explain the side effects, risks & complications of the surgery?
What to expect after the surgery?
You need to have a good idea from the Spine surgeon consultation about the recovery process after your surgery. This will help you understand your expectations after surgery like the extent of pain after the surgery.
Other questions include:
- How long should I have to stay in the hospital?
- What pain medications will I have to take at home? Any side effects?
- Do I need any medical equipment at home?
- Whom do I contact after surgery in an emergency?
- What are the symptoms that need immediate medical attention?
- How often will you see me after surgery?
- Will I get information on the activities permitted after surgery at discharge from hospital?
- When do I start physiotherapy?
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