Lower Back Surgery: Spinal Fusion
Spinal fusion is used to strengthen the spine and prevent painful movements. The spinal discs between two or more vertebrae are removed, and the adjacent vertebrae are "fused" by bone grafts and/or metal devices secured by screws. Spinal fusion may result in some loss of flexibility in the spine, and it requires a long recovery period to allow the bone grafts to grow and fuse the vertebrae together.
Lower Back Surgery: Laminectomy
Spinal laminectomy (also known as spinal decompression) involves the removal of the lamina (usually on both sides) to increase the size of the spinal canal and relieve pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots.
Lower Back Surgery: Rhizotomy, Cordotomy, or Dorsal Root Entry Zone Operation
Other surgical procedures that are used to relieve severe chronic
lower back pain include:
- Rhizotomy, in which the nerve root closest to where it enters the spinal cord is cut to block nerve transmission and all senses from the area of the body experiencing pain
- Cordotomy, where bundles of nerve fibers on one or both sides of the spinal cord are intentionally severed to stop the transmission of pain signals to the brain
- Dorsal root entry zone operation, or DREZ, in which spinal neurons transmitting the pain are destroyed surgically.
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