Is surgery for neck or back pain necessary? Sometimes. It is reasonable to consider spine surgery if the pain has not diminished after months of non-surgical treatment, if pain does not respond to medication, or if you're unable to complete basic daily activities. Some surgery options are minimally invasive (microdiscectomy for a  herniated disc) and allow for quick recovery, while other types of surgery (a posterolateral fusion for degenerative disc disease) are more extensive.

Uncover the common reasons behind failed lumbar decompression back surgery, including factors like misdiagnosis and wrong-site or wrong-procedure surgery.

After back surgery there are several lifestyle habits that will aid in the recovery process, such as avoiding smoking, getting enough continuous sleep, and eating nutritious food.

Kyphoplasty is an elective surgery designed to reduce or eliminate back pain in people with vertebral compression fractures; avoid an increase in spinal deformity; and restore spinal alignment.

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that is performed through a small skin puncture. A typical kyphoplasty procedure takes 1 to 2 hours per vertebral level to complete.

In addition to general surgery risks, complications specific to kyphoplasty include bone cement leakage, paralysis, pulmonary embolism, and allergic reactions to the bone cement or other agents.

Lumbar discectomy, both microdiscectomy and endoscopic (percutaneous) discectomy, was the first type of spine surgery to be commonly performed on an outpatient basis.


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