Clare Morgan Consultant Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon

List of Consenting Issues

This section aims to provide you with information on Surgical, Non-Surgical, Complications and Case Studies. Please use the links on the left hand side to navigate these pages.

Discectomy / Decompression:
Infection – re-operation
General anaesthetic risk, including CVA, MI
DVT, PE
Death, paralysis, cauda equina syndrome
Nerve root injury
CSF leak/dural tear – re-operation
Haematoma – re-operation
Nerve root fibrosis
Recurrence
Wrong level
Pressure on optic nerve - blindness
Decompression:
Infection – re-operation
General anaesthetic risk, including CVA, MI
DVT, PE
Death, paralysis, cauda equina syndrome
Nerve root injury
CSF leak/dural tear – re-operation
Haematoma – re-operation
Nerve root fibrosis
Recurrence
Variable effect of lower back pain
Wrong level
Pressure on optic nerve - blindness
Use of coflex - implant failure/reoperation
Fusion surgery:
Infection – re-operation
General anaesthetic risk, including CVA, MI
DVT, PE
Death, paralysis
Nerve root injury
CSF leak/dural tear – re-operation
Haematoma – re-operation
Nerve root fibrosis
Metalwork misplacement/failure
Pseudarthrosis/failure to fuse
Adjacent level degeneration
Donor site pain
Pressure on optic nerve - blindness
Anterior cervical Decompression / Discectomy & fusion:
Infection – re-operation
General anaesthetic risk, including CVA, MI
DVT, PE
Death, paralysis/tetraplegia
Nerve root injury
CSF leak/dural tear – re-operation
Side effects of the approach, including laryngeal nerve injury or palsy, damage to trachea or oesophagus, damage to other viscera; including vessels
Haematoma – re-operation
Metalwork misplacement/failure
Pseudarthrosis, implant subsidence
Adjacent level disease including deformity -kyphosis
Donor site pain if taking graft