The human vertebral bodies and intervertebral disks are subject to a variety of diseases and conditions that change the spacial relationship between the vertebral bodies and the intervertebral disks, causing pain, disability or both. Many of these diseases and conditions also cause instability of the vertebral column. Among these diseases and conditions are degenerated, herniated, or degenerated and herniated intervertebral disks, degenerative scoliosis, disk or vertebral body infections, space occupying lesions such as malignancies, spinal stenosis, spondylosis, spondylolisthesis, and vertebral instability. Additionally, the vertebral bodies and intervertebral disks are subject to injuries, including vertebral fractures due to trauma or osteoporosis, and to surgical manipulations, that change the spacial relationship between the vertebral bodies and the intervertebral disks, causing pain, disability or both, and that cause instability of the vertebral column.
Surgical treatment of diseases and conditions affecting the spacial relationship between the vertebral bodies and the intervertebral disks have traditionally involved open fusion procedures that include making a lengthy incision through the tissues overlying the spinous processes, thereby directly accessing the vertebrae to mechanically fuse two adjacent vertebrae. These procedures result in considerable post-operative pain and a significant incidence of post-operative morbidity, including infection. Further, traditional procedures do not allow the surgeon to directly access the intervertebral space to restore the more normal three-dimensional configuration of the space.
Therefore, there is a need for a new method for treating diseases and conditions that changes the spacial relationship between two vertebral bodies and the intervertebral disk between the two vertebral bodies, or that cause instability of the vertebral column, or both, that is associated with less post-operative pain and a lower incidence of post-operative morbidity. Further, there is a need for a new method for treating diseases and conditions that change the spacial relationship between the vertebral bodies and the intervertebral disks, or that cause instability of the vertebral column, or both, that allows the surgeon to directly access the intervertebral space to mechanically fuse two adjacent vertebrae.