Back Surgery and Its Different Types

Are you suffering from severe back pain that hasn't relieved through non-surgical treatments such as physical therapy, medications and steroid injections? If other remedies have failed to provide relief from long-term chronic backache then surgery may be the only option for you.

However, the surgery cannot be considered as an initial treatment for back pain. In most cases, backache tends to be temporary and can be managed by using non-surgical approaches and self-care. Exercise, physical therapy, and acupuncture are usually successful in treating back and neck pain.

Unfortunately, there is no option left for chronic pain sufferers other than going under the knife.

Back surgery is usually recommended to only a small percentage of cases. In particular, surgical treatment for back may be recommended if a person has severe back pain caused by wear and tear; or pain that continues to worsen despite other treatments; has back instability from injury; has acute arm or leg pain caused by nerve compression in the spine; or has nerve problems.

Back Surgery Options

There are several different types of back surgery. The type you choose depends on your back condition.

Discectomy: Also called open discectomy it is the most common surgical treatment for a ruptured or herniated disc in the spinal canal causing the pressure on the nerve. In this type of procedure, a surgeon removes one or more of your affected discs through a small cut over the center of your back. This relieves the pressure on the nerves.

Spinal Disc Replacement: This procedure is relatively new and is still not widely used by the surgeons. Spinal disc replacement aims to restore disc height and relieve painful movement between two vertebrae. While performing a spine replacement, your surgeon will remove the degenerated or injured discs and replace them with artificial ones.

Laminectomy: This procedure involves the removal of parts of the bone, bone spurs, or ligaments overlying the spinal canal. In a laminectomy, a surgeon cut opens the back and removes or disrupts the lamina, a plate along the vertebra that covers the spinal canal, in order to enlarge the spinal canal to allow more space for the nerves to pass. This relieves nerve pressure caused by spinal stenosis.

Foraminotomy: While performing this operation, your surgeon will carry out a keyhole procedure to widen your foramina- the bony holes through which nerve roots exit the spine. This expanded space reduces pressure on your spinal nerves caused by the inter-vertebral foramen, thereby relieving pain.

Vertebroplasty: During this procedure, your surgeon will first make a small cut on your back. Then, using X-rays as guidance, he/she will slowly inject cement-like mixture into your compressed vertebrae to stabilize the spine and relieve pain.

In a similar surgical procedure, called kyphoplasty, a balloon-like device is inserted in an attempt to widen the compressed vertebrae before injecting the bone cement.

Spinal Fusion: Also known as spondylodesis, spinal fusion is the most common surgery for chronic back pain. This operation is aimed at treating broken spinal bones (vertebrae) and increasing the strength of the spine by fusing two or more vertebrae together.

In a spinal fusion, a surgeon joins two or more spinal bones together using metal hardware, including a bone graft, and special metal scaffolding made of rods, screws or plates.

A spinal fusion is typically done to treat spondylolisthesis (unstable spine), or spinal weakness or instability.