How To Reduce The Risk of Failed Back Surgery Syndrome
Is chronic pain your constant companion, even after back surgery? Do your fingers still lose sensation? Does the electric shock still shoot down your legs? You may suffer from 'Failed Back Surgery Syndrome'. Though not really a syndrome, this is a condition where pain still exists after back or neck surgery.
Most people will turn to back and neck surgery after trying therapy, rehabilitation and strong medications. Pinched nerves, sciatic pain, arthritis and injury are all reasons that people seek out surgery as a last resort to give them relief. It is then so disheartening when the surgery does not bring relief.
There will be many reasons that a surgery will not be successful: Misdiagnosis of the problem, not locating the right place that is causing the pain, and operating on lesions that are not the cause of the pain. So, what can people do to prevent FBSS?
First, it is imperative to know the facts about surgery. Surgery does not guarantee that you will walk away pain-free. In fact, spinal surgery can only do two things:
- Relieve pressure on pinched nerves.
- Stabilize a spine that has degenerated or damaged discs.
If you suffer from leg pain due to lumbar disc degeneration you need a lumbar spinal fusion surgery because your spine is unstable. Chances are good that your surgery will be successful because this surgery has a great success rate.
If you need the spinal fusion surgery because your discs have deteriorated, you are less likely to experience a good outcome. Also, if you suffer from lower back pain due to a lumbar disc degeneration, the surgery may not be as successful. Being certain that the lesion to be operated on is, in fact, the cause of the pain, will help to ensure a successful surgery.
Still, back surgeries are tricky. A spinal fusion can fail due to different factors. The bones may not fuse, or they may fuse improperly. Other disc may degenerate after the spinal fusion and pain may continue or start anew.
Lumbar decompression may fail to help pinched nerves. Maybe the decompression did not help the nerve root or the nerve was damaged during surgery. Maybe the nerve damage, which was done before the surgery. just failed to heal. Whatever the reason, the patient is left with the painful results.
In rare instances, patients can be the cause of continued pain. Disregarding doctor's orders such as 'no bending, lifting or twisting' can result in a failed back surgery syndrome.
With surgeons who are certain of the cause and patients who do what the doctor says, people can expect a pain-free outcome after their surgery.