Spine Surgery

Overview

For individuals with back pain for a long time, might consider spine surgery the only viable option. In certain cases, surgery is the preferred choice. Although, non-surgical treatment or conservative therapy can also work for some patients. Let’s make you understand the effective treatment approach followed by our healthcare professionals.

Make an informed decision to choose the treatment

Spine injury occurrence is common with age, improper body functioning, structural abnormality, and trauma. This can lead to leg pain, back pain, and leg weakness. Consulting The spine specialties will save you a lot of time and you will get the right information, which will benefit your current lifestyle and improve the ability to perform physical tasks.

What is the conservative non-surgical treatment?

Before the spine specialists suggest surgery the possible options are taken into account:

• Performing non-operative treatment like pain medications, physical therapy
• Bracing

The trial period is from around 6 weeks to 6 months. Spine surgery is suggested if non-surgical options cannot give you relief from the symptoms.

How open surgery and minimally invasive spinal surgery are different?

Traditionally, spine surgery is carried out through open surgery. During this, the operative site will have a long incision which allows the surgeon to see and access the spinal structure. Although, the technology reached the point where a minimally invasive approach is used.
During MISS, long incisions are not made, the tissue and muscle are manipulated which surrounds the spine area. This allows the operative time to be short.

How imaging is done for spine surgery?

The surgeon can view the operative site with the computer-assisted image. Along with that screws or rods are inserted & positioned with the right approach as compared to the conventional method. With the computer-assisted images, it helps in giving a real-time view of the operative site so that the surgeon can view the site properly. It is important to understand your candidacy with the surgeon and whether this approach can be beneficial for you.

What is the different surgical approach?

No matter, it is MISS or open surgery, the spine area is reached in different directions. The surgical approach is used and these include:

• Anterior Approach : The spine is accessed from the front which is the abdomen.
• Posterior Approach : The incision is made on back
• Lateral Approach : The spine is reached through the side

What are the most common surgical methods?

Different conditions can lead to spine surgery which includes the following:

Discectomy or Microdiscectomy

MISS is done for herniated intervertebral disc removal.

Laminectomy

The vertebrae contain thin bony plates which are removed to increase the space present in the spinal canal and pressure is reduced.

Laminotomy

The vertebral arch portion is removed which covers the spinal cord. In this approach, less bone is removed.

Foraminotomy

In the passageway, the tissue or bone is removed where the root comes out from the spinal cord and the spinal column will be exited.

Disc Replacement

Disc replacement helps to replace the injured disc with the artificial one. You can consider this option instead of fusion.

Spinal Fusiony

A surgical technique used to join 2 vertebrae. During spinal fusion, include the bone graft which can be with instrumentation. Bone graft choice can be between autograft and allograft. The spinal fusion is done through a different approach which includes:

• PLIF (Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion)
• ALIF (Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion)
• TLIF (Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody)
• LIF (Lateral Interbody)

What do you need to know about spinal instrumentation?

Spinal instrumentation includes bone screws, plates, rods, and interbody devices. The surgeon might even recommend other treatments to address the issue of spinal problems. The spinal instrumentation helps fix or stabilize the fusion.