When you have sacroiliac pain, your life can be significantly more difficult than planned. Not only does this joint lead to pain in your back, it can also affect your legs as well. Without the proper treatment, sacroiliac joint pain continues to get worse. This is where the iFuse implant system® may be able to help.
At Kellogg Brain and Spine, our team are experts in many different types of conditions that cause pain in your spine. Our team is led by Dr. Jordi Kellogg, who is a renowned neurosurgeon. Dr. Kellogg specializes in treating sacroiliac pain with the iFuse implant system.
Your sacroiliac joints are located where the lower part of your spine and your pelvis meet. Your SI joint is responsible for delegating the weight from your upper body to your legs, as well as transferring energy between the two parts of your body.
Your SI joint doesn’t move very much, only about four centimeters in any given direction. The joint is stabilized by muscles and ligaments.
However, if the stability of that joint is compromised, your SI joint can lead to pain. For example, if you fall on your back, it can cause strain around your joint. The joint may also deteriorate as you get older, which also leads to pain.
When you have any kind of instability in your SI joint, the problem needs to be corrected to stop the pain that it’s caused. This is where the iFuse implant can help. It uses tiny rods to help to stabilize your SI joint.
The iFuse implant system is a minimally invasive procedure that allows Dr. Kellogg to decrease your chronic pain by stabilizing your SI joint. Dr. Kellogg performs the procedure while you’re under general anesthesia.
In the operating room, you’ll be placed on your stomach to allow Dr. Kellogg to access the area around the side of the buttock, where the primary incision is made. The incision is very small, only about an inch or two in length.
Once the incision is made, Dr. Kellogg uses X-ray imaging known as fluoroscopy to make sure he’s in the precise area of your SI joint that he needs to be. Once he determines the right spot, Dr. Kellogg uses specialized surgical instrumentation to prepare the bone in your joint for the iFuse implant.
Typically, there are three titanium implants used when Dr. Kellogg places the iFuse system in your SI joint. This, of course, is dependent on your size and the condition of your joint.
Once the implants are in place, Dr. Kellogg closes the tiny incision on your buttock and covers the area. You’ll likely be able to go home the next day and resume your normal activities in about six to eight weeks. This is because the procedure is minimally invasive and preserves most of the tissues around your SI joint, which allows faster healing and a shorter recovery.
When Dr. Kellogg determines that your back pain is caused by either sacroiliitis or degeneration of your sacroiliac joints, he doesn’t immediately schedule you for surgery. In fact, there are other steps he usually recommends first.
Because the iFuse system is still a type of surgical procedure, it’s reserved for either severe cases of SI joint dysfunction or is used after you’ve tried conservative treatments without relief. Conservative measures that Dr. Kellogg recommends for pain relief include:
However, if you’ve tried these measures without significant relief, the iFuse implant system may be for you. This system has the ability to significantly decrease or eliminate the pain in your back caused by instability in your SI joint.
Dr. Kellogg also recommends this procedure if your back pain is predominantly below your fifth lumbar vertebrae. He also makes sure that there aren’t any neurological issues that could be causing your pain, other than your SI joint. If Dr. Kellogg determines that your SI joint is the culprit, he discusses the potential of the iFuse system to help.
If you need an SI joint fusion and would like more information on the iFuse system, call one of our offices in Portland or Wilsonville, Oregon, to schedule a consultation. You can also click the request an appointment button while you’re here on our website.
