Back Pain Surgery

Operative treatments

Depending on the diagnosis, surgery may either be the first treatment of choice - although this is rare - or it is reserved for chronic back pain for which other treatments have failed. If you are in constant pain or if pain reoccurs frequently and interferes with your ability to sleep, to function at your job, or to perform daily activities, you may be a candidate for surgery.

In general, there are two groups of people who may require surgery to treat their spinal problems. People in the first group have chronic low back pain and Sciatica, and they are often diagnosed with a Herniated Disc, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, or vertebral fractures with nerve involvement. People in the second group are those with only predominant low back pain (without leg pain). These are people with discogenic low back pain (Degenerative Disc Disease), in which discs wear with age. Usually, the outcome of spine surgery is much more predictable in people with Sciatica than in those with predominant Low Back Pain.

Some of the diagnoses that may need surgery include:

Herniated Discs: a potentially painful problem in which the hard outer coating of the discs, which are the circular pieces of connective tissue that cushion the bones of the spine, are damaged, allowing the discs' jelly-like center to leak, irritating nearby nerves. This causes severe Sciatica and nerve pain down the leg. A herniated disc is sometimes called a ruptured disc.

Spinal stenosis: the narrowing of the spinal canal, through which the spinal cord and spinal nerves run.

It is often caused by the overgrowth of bone caused by osteoarthritis of the spine. Compression of the nerves caused by spinal stenosis can lead not only to pain, but also to numbness in the legs and the loss of bladder and/or bowel control. Patients may have difficulty walking any distances and may also have severe pain in their legs along with numbness and tingling.

Spondylolisthesis: a condition in which a vertebra of the lumbar spine slips out of place. As the spine tries to stabilize itself, the joints between the slipped vertebra and adjacent vertebrae can become enlarged, pinching nerves as they exit the spinal column. Spondylolisthesis may cause not only Low Back Pain but severe Sciatica leg pain.

Vertebral fractures: fractures caused by trauma to the vertebrae of the spine or by crumbling of the vertebrae resulting from osteoporosis. This causes mostly mechanical back pain, but it may also put pressure on the nerves, creating leg pain.

Discogenic Low Back Pain (Degenerative Disc Disease): Most people's discs degenerate over a lifetime, but in some, this aging process can become chronically painful, severely interfering with their quality of life.

Following are some of the most commonly performed back surgeries:

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