Spine Patient Education
Spine Patient Education

Spine conditions & procedures

Plain-language explanations of 57 spine topics: what the condition is, why it happens, and how it is treated. Open any topic to read it in English or Spanish, print it, or scan its QR code.

Urgent Warning Signs
  1. 1Spine Emergency Warning Signs→
Cervical Spine
  1. 1Odontoid Fracture→
  2. 2C1–C2 Atlantoaxial Instability→
  3. 3Torticollis→
  4. 4Occipital Headaches→
  5. 5Cervicalgia (Neck Pain)→
  6. 6Cervical Radiculopathy→
  7. 7Spondylotic Cervical Myelopathy→
  8. 8Cervical Myeloradiculopathy→
  9. 9Cervical Kyphosis→
  10. 10Ossified Posterior Longitudinal Ligament (OPLL)→
  11. 11Cervical Spondylolisthesis→
  12. 12Pseudarthrosis (Nonunion of a Fusion)→
  13. 13Cervical Spinal Cord Injury→
  14. 14Congenital Cervical Stenosis→
  15. 15Klippel-Feil Syndrome→
  16. 16Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Leak→
Thoracic & Thoracolumbar Spine
  1. 1Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis→
  2. 2Adult Idiopathic Scoliosis→
  3. 3Degenerative Scoliosis→
  4. 4Congenital Scoliosis→
  5. 5Hemivertebra→
  6. 6Vertebral Burst Fracture→
  7. 7Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fracture→
  8. 8Vertebral Hemangioma→
  9. 9Thoracolumbar Kyphosis→
  10. 10Scheuermann’s Kyphosis→
  11. 11Cervicothoracic Kyphosis→
Lumbar & Sacral Spine
  1. 1Lumbar Spinal Stenosis→
  2. 2Lumbar Foraminal Stenosis→
  3. 3Lumbar Lateral Recess Stenosis→
  4. 4Lumbar Radiculopathy→
  5. 5Lumbar Degenerative Spondylolisthesis→
  6. 6Lumbar Isthmic Spondylolisthesis→
  7. 7Spondylolysis (Pars Stress Fracture)→
  8. 8Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Dysfunction→
  9. 9Sacral Insufficiency Fracture→
General Spine Conditions
  1. 1Spinal Osteomyelitis, Discitis, and Osteodiscitis→
  2. 2Charcot Spine (Neuropathic Spinal Arthropathy)→
  3. 3Degenerative Disc Disease→
  4. 4Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (Post-Laminectomy Syndrome)→
  5. 5Osteoid Osteoma of the Spine→
  6. 6Metastatic Disease to the Spine→
  7. 7Arachnoiditis→
  8. 8Tethered Cord Syndrome→
  9. 9Meningocele→
  10. 10Spina Bifida→
Spine Procedures & Operations
  1. 1Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF)→
  2. 2Cervical Disc Replacement (Arthroplasty)→
  3. 3Posterior Cervical Decompression (Laminectomy / Laminoplasty)→
  4. 4Lumbar Microdiscectomy→
  5. 5Lumbar Laminectomy (Decompression)→
  6. 6Lumbar Fusion (TLIF)→
  7. 7Posterior Spinal Fusion for Scoliosis→
  8. 8Vertebral Body Tethering (VBT)→
  9. 9Epidural Steroid Injection→
  10. 10Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty→