Martin Completes Back Surgery

Mark Martin underwent a successful lumbar fusion this morning to hopefully relieve a majority of the back pain he has dealt with for years. Dr. Chuck Kollmer performed the procedure in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. Dr. Kollmer is the same physician who performed surgery on Martin's knee in July.

"Mark did very well through the surgery," Dr. Kollmer said. "There was no nerve damage from the procedure and now it is just a matter of the bone healing. His back pain should be much better, although not entirely gone."

Martin suffered from a condition called spondylolisthesis in which part of the bone in the back is broken which causes instability and causes the bone below it to slip. That puts pressure on the nerves in the back and causes pain. During the 3 1/2-hour procedure, Dr. Kollmer removed the portion of broken bone and inserted hardware and additional bone which will fuse together to stabilize his lower back. Martin is expected to remain in the hospital until Friday.