Spinal Fusion Surgery: What You Need to Know
There will be over 1.2 million patient undergoing spinal fusion surgery in 2025; up to 46% of those patients will require invasive revision surgery. Why? Because spinal fusion requires cutting into healthy bone to place metal rods, screws and cages to immobilize the spine, that can result in a number of potential complications, and the need for further surgery.
CONDITIONS WHERE SPINAL FUSION MAY BE RECOMMENDED
There are several key conditions where spinal fusion is commonly recommended treatment:
If you’ve been recommended for spinal fusion surgery, it’s important to have all the facts to make an informed decision. Let’s look at spinal fusion surgery and the other treatment options, including the less invasive Deuk Laser Disc Repair® that can cure your back pain forever.
WHAT IS SPINAL FUSION?
Spinal fusion is a big business – it is a $5B market - and routinely recommended by surgeons to stabilize the spine to reduce pain caused by compressed nerves. Fusion immobilizes the vertebrae by welding them together, eliminating the natural movement of the spine, keeping it in place so the nerves are not aggravated further.
The surgery requires bone grafting to form a bridge between the affected vertebrae, with placement of screws, plates and rods into healthy bone to hold it all together. The result, depending on the number of levels (number of vertebrae affected) is a spine that no longer moves naturally, with healthy bone that is overly stressed and may become compromised.

Typical recovery times for spinal fusion vary by individual, with the average being six months to one year. Many post-operative patients experience a lingering chronic pain that never goes away, and are referred to pain management for ongoing treatment.
Because spinal fusion is a lucrative surgery for surgeon, the hospital, and the medical device company, it is often the only treatment option given to a patient. Learn more about the spinal industry and what goes on behind the scenes by watching the newly released docudrama Spine Scam.
SPINAL FUSION COMPLICATIONS
It’s important to understand the potential problems that can occur after spinal fusion surgery when considering your options:
- Limited mobility: loss of spinal flexibility. We have seen many patients whose fusion surgery has limited their ability to move naturally from the fusing of the vertebrae. The higher number of levels fused, the higher risk of impaired movement.
- Adjacent segment disease (ASD): this occurs in the spinal joints located above and below the fusion – where the joints are at higher risk of degenerating and becoming painful, necessitating the need for more surgeries.
- Revision Surgery: revision surgery rates are between 8-46% for all fusion patients. This is a corrective second surgery to address conditions that have developed from the fusion surgery.
- Nerve damage: while fusion can alleviate some nerve pain, it generally takes up to two years for nerve damage to repair itself
- Scar tissue: spinal fusion always results in soft tissue destruction and the formation of abnormal scar tissue around the spine.
SPINAL FUSION USING MINIMALLY INVASIVE SPINAL SURGERY TECHNIQUES
Minimally invasive spinal fusion surgery is often recommended by surgeons because it involves smaller incisions, to aid in quicker recovery times. The implication that this is a better treatment option can be deceiving; it may be a smaller incision, however the bone grafting and hardware placement remains the same. Recovery times for the incision are somewhat faster; however, the spine and healthy bone healing times are the same.
THE TOP TEN SPINAL FUSION SURGEONS IN THE UNITED STATES
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian has performed thousands of fusions in his career and is a noted published expert on spinal fusion. He realized there was a better way to help patients and cure their back pain, developing the minimally invasive endoscopic laser spine surgery - Deuk Laser Disc Repair® - used today at Deuk Spine Institute today. His spinal fusion technique had an 85% success rate, and he is considered the top fusion surgeon in the United States. You can find the top ten fusion surgeons in the U.S. here.
LIVE PAIN FREE: THE DEUK LASER DISC REPAIR
At Deuk Spine Institute we treat and cure back and neck pain. If you’re looking for back pain relief, if you’ve been recommended for a spinal fusion, or are continuing to live with chronic back pain after failed fusion surgery, we can get your quality of life back and to living pain free. No cutting or compromising healthy bone, no hardware placement, no pain, and with a recovery time of less than three days.
How do we do it? We use our Deuk Laser Disc Repair® procedure, a patented, minimally invasive endoscopic laser spine surgery - and the only one of its kind in the world - to cure back pain. An endoscope is placed through a 4mm opening in the spine at the affected level and laser is used repair the tear and block the nerves in the back of the disc that is the root cause of the pain.
The result? It takes less than hour and our patients walk out of our outpatient clinic a few hours post op with no pain and no need for addictive painkillers. They come back to our clinic the next day for a post op review and are cleared to go back to living a normal, complete life, free of pain.
Does it work? Our success rate is 99.5% and we have treated thousands of patients who are now living pain free. It took 20 years and thousands of surgical hours to discover the root cause of chronic back pain and the effectiveness of laser in treating it.
Additionally, we livestream with our patient written consent – allowing you to witness our technique.
WE’RE HERE TO HELP
We know how destructive chronic back pain can be to your life. As neurosurgeons and health care professionals we have dedicated ourselves to eliminating and curing back pain forever.
Take the first step to a pain-free life: upload your most recent MRI to receive a free review and consultation with Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, M.D. the founder of Deuk Spine Institute, who developed the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® procedure. Members of our team will reach out so you can recapture your life.
OUR COMMITMENT
Your back is one of the most important and vital set of nerves, bones and tissue in your body. It’s why our entire staff is uncompromising in our commitment to providing the highest levels of patient care. We hold each other accountable and set high expectations for every member of our team.
When you come to Deuk Spine Institute you’ll be the center of a team of health care professionals dedicated to curing your back pain forever.
Feel free to reach out to us: 1.800.FIX.MY.BACK