Top 5 Most Common Spinal Surgery Procedures

Some extents of back and neck pain could call for surgical intervention when other treatments fail to provide relief. Today, you do not have to worry about prolonged healing, excess pain, and scarring associated with traditional open surgery. Thanks to technology, spinal surgery Washington, PA specialists use minimally invasive techniques. Therefore, you can consider surgery for your back pain, especially if non-surgical methods do not work for you. In that case, your provider might recommend any of the following common back surgery procedures. Follow through to be enlightened further.

Microdiscectomy

This is the most prevalent back surgery, mainly recommended when patients have lower back pain associated with tingling, weakness, numbness, and leg pain. The shock-absorbing discs between your vertebrae can bulge and press nearby nerve roots to cause the symptoms. Your doctor will recommend a microdiscectomy to remove some of the nerve-pressing discs to address your symptoms. Your provider will only make a small incision either on the affected side or in the middle of your back.

Laminectomy

Nerves and ligaments pass through a lining in your spinal cord. But the ligaments could thicken due to wearing and tearing due to aging. Also, bone spurs can occur due to osteoarthritis, and your discs may rupture or bulge. Since all this affects the lining where nerves are supposed to pass, your doctor can recommend a laminectomy to open up the space and eliminate the pressure on the nerves. Your doctor will remove the lamina to enlarge the spinal canal through a small incision. The entire procedure is minimally invasive, and some symptoms like leg pain can improve immediately after your treatment.

Spinal Fusion

Your doctor can recommend spinal fusion when you experience a fracture in your spine or you are enduring severe nerve compression. It helps permanently join two or several bones in your spine. Occasional intractable pain, spine cancer, and spine deformity are other main reasons a spinal fusion can be employed. Your doctor uses screws and rods to stabilize your spine or a fusion device and a bone graft to replace any disc causing compression. Therefore, the surgery can be performed alongside a laminectomy or a bone graft procedure. All this to help your spine align better.

Kyphoplasty

When you experience a compression fracture due to osteoporosis, it can be so painful that medications and braces might not help. In that case, your doctor will recommend kyphoplasty to provide some pain relief. The procedure involves sedation to keep you unconscious and comfortable. Your provider will use x-ray guidance to insert a small instrument into the vertebra. A balloon will be inflated to create space for bone cement to be injected. Your doctor then injects the cement, and you can go home within a few hours.

Disc Replacement

This procedure is new and might replace spinal fusion. It is done in the cervical or lumbar spine to manage pinched nerves or compression in the lumbar or cervical spine. The hard discs are removed and replaced with an artificial disc to allow motion, unlike the traditional fusion procedures. This option is most suitable for young patients with n significant arthritis symptoms.

Reach out to Steel City Spine and Orthopedic Center minimally invasive spine surgery specialists to understand more about different back surgery procedures, especially if medicines and treatments have failed to give you pain relief. The treatment option suitable for you depends on the reason for your pain.

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