Balloon in the Spine

I was supposed to have an independent study day today but there was a change in plans.  The neurosurgeon had two surgeries today and wanted me to observe as well as check in about some of the research he had assigned me to do.  He will be out next week and so I will be taking my independent day on Monday and on Wednesday I will be shadowing one of his colleagues.  Today I observed a posterior cervical fusion and a kyphoplasty.  Both of these procedures were to treat spinal fractures.  The first was to treat a fracture of the dens, a part of the C2 vertebrae just below the base of the scull.  The second was to treat a compresion fracture where the vertebral body was crushed.   The kyphoplasty was a fascinating surgery because the surgeon went in and filled a high tech balloon in the spine to restore height and stability the vertebral body.