Spinal surgery is one of the more complex surgeries performed but can offer tremendous relief for the patient. Ranging from a variety of fusions on all sections of the spine and other spinal procedures, there are over 1.2 mil repairs done per year (2013). The ultimate goal of fusing the spine is to relieve pain, essentially by making 2 vertebrae into one. When completing a spinal fusion your doctor may use a variety of strategies but the most common include using bone graft, either an autograft (from your body, hip is very common) or allograft (from donor), and hardware (plates, screws, and rods) to secure the fusion. These fusion surgeries tend to be long cases so expect to be in the OR for several hours and typically will be in the hospital for a few days.