Nacho Cheese wrote:
As for why they put metal rods in, it's to protect the integrity of the spinal column and the spinal cord. If you damage your vertebrae, the pieces could still shift and damage your spinal cord more. And it your spinal column wasn't intact your torso wouldn't have any support. So they screw rods into the vertebrae above and below the level of injury.
Thanks for the feedback. I understand about needing protection, but screwing rods into vertebrae sounds unwarranted and extreme.
The rods CAN come out - and it LV returns to triathlon he might want them out for bike riding positioning - but usually they DON'T come out because it's an invasive and slightly risky procedure that doesn't have benefit other than for flexibility.
Far more risky to put them there in the first place. I hope they do eventually come out and don't cause him any harm.