Day 3: First Day in Surgery

Today was a great new experience. Throughout the first half of the day, I got to view a type of spine surgery called an ACDF or  an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion. During this type of surgery, the surgeon's objective is to remove the cervical disc that is compressed in the patient and then insert an allograft (cadaver or patient's own bone replacement) and fuse the cervical bone sections back together with a small metal plate and screws. This surgery is meant to treat degenerated disc disease mostly. This was an exciting experience for me because I got to see what a human spinal cord looked like as well as a degenerated disc. Most people would have called it disgusting, but I find it fascinating. The rest of the day was spent researching EMGs and SSEP(Somatosensory Evoked Potentials), both are forms of neuromonitoring. Today was a better look at what more there was to come.