Is bone spur removal necessary before stem cell injections?

Question

Hi doctor,

I wanted to get stem cell injections for my degenerating discs, but was told I have bone spurs in my lower spine, and those spurs would need to be removed before they would do the stem cell injections.

They said that this would be a simple arthroscopic procedure to remove the bone spurs. I asked my local doctor about this, and he said that he had never even heard of this being done. Is this something that can easily be done?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I can understand your concern.

Bone spur formation on the lower spine is an outgrowth that can develop on the edges of bone. Several factors can contribute, including:

Joint degeneration, like osteoarthritis.
History of trauma.
Genetic predisposition.
Inflammatory conditions.

The patient will have signs and symptoms:

Joint tenderness.
Numbness or tingling due to nerve compression.
Difficulty in walking or bearing weight.

Mostly diagnosed by X-ray, CT (computed tomography) scan, or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Management will either use a nonsurgical or surgical approach after failure of a nonsurgical outcome. It can be given, anti-inflammatory medication, analgesics, corticosteroid injections, and physiotherapy. The surgical approach can be either open surgery, arthroscopic, or endoscopic surgery.

Arthroscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure in which small incisions are made over the joint, arthroscope camera is introduced to guide the surgeon through the operation. It has good advantages and typically results in smaller incisions, reduced scarring, and faster recovery than open surgery. Postoperative complications like pain and reduced activity can be managed by painkillers and, later on, physical therapy.

I hope this information will help you.

Kindly revert in case of further queries.

Thank you.