In many areas, nonessential orthopaedic procedures that were postponed due to COVID-19 have resumed.

For information:  Questions and Answers for Patients Regarding Elective Surgery and COVID-19. For patients whose procedures have not yet been rescheduled:  What to Do If Your Orthopaedic Surgery Is Postponed.

In lumbar artificial disk replacement, worn or damaged disk material between the small bones in the spine (vertebrae) is removed and replaced with a prosthetic, or artificial disk.

​The goal of the procedure is to relieve back pain while maintaining more normal motion than is allowed with some other procedures, such as spinal fusion (which aims to prevent motion).

This is because the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), unlike in some amphibians and reptiles, has inhibitory molecules blocking growth post-development, as well as the lack of an effective regenerative response system. Within the peripheral nervous system (PNS), there is some limited axonal recovery that can occur naturally.
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Increasing Axon Regeneration CapacityIncreasing the natural intrinsic regenerative ability of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons can be achieved by conditioning injury within the peripheral nerves of the CNS, such as the sciatic nerve. Doing this allows the upregulation of regeneration-associated genes (RAGs) that can drive an increased potential for nerve regeneration of DRG neurons after a CNS injury.
This, however, whilst powerful for understating the mechanism of axonal regeneration in experimental animal models, is not a clinically viable option for humans.

Proprioceptive afferent feedback (from sensory DRG neurons) can modulate motor outputs within the spinal cord via the production of molecular cues. The feedback influences the adjustment and refinement of motor learning and movement. As such, this feedback can also play a critical role in directing motor recovery post-SCI. Indeed both clinical and animal studies stimulating proprioceptive afferents electrically have demonstrated enhanced motor recovery and neuroplasticity after SCI.

Doctors will soon be able to use fat to diagnose musculoskeletal disease within seconds and predict the risk of falls and fractures in older people, thanks to a world-leading tool developed by Melbourne researchers.
Among the diseases are sarcopenia (muscle loss), osteoporosis (brittle bones) and osteosarcopenia - a newly described syndrome encompassing osteoporosis and sarcopenia.
Two in three older Australians live with these chronic musculoskeletal conditions, which are largely associated with ageing and can lead to decreased muscle mass, physical disability and poor quality of life.
Tissue Compass™ was developed by University of Melbourne researchers at Western Health and the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS) to enable clinicians to quantify, within seconds, fat infiltration of muscle and bone

Spain, with more than 11 000 cases and 491 deaths as of March 17, 2020, has one of the highest burdens of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide. In response, its government used a royal decree (463/2020) to declare a 15-day national emergency, starting on March 15.
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Although the Spanish health system has coped well during the 6 weeks since its first case was diagnosed, it will be tested severely in the coming weeks as there is already widespread community transmission in the most affected regions, Madrid, the Basque Country, and Catalonia. The number of new cases in the country is increasing by more than 1000 each day. A crisis such as this places pressure on all building blocks of a health system, each of which we consider in turn.