Lumbar Disc Surgery

Lumbar Disc Surgery

Treating Low Back Pain and Sciatica

When a disk weakens, the outer rings may not be able to contain the material in the center of the disk. This material may bulge against or squeeze through a tear in the outer rings and press against a nerve, leading to pain in your lower back and leg. A herniated disk occurs when disk material bulges against the outer rings. The bulging disk may press against one of the nearby nerves passing through the vertebra. A free fragment occurs when disk material separates from and moves outside to the outer rings through a tear. The fragment may irritate a nearby nerve.

Persistent pain in your low back or leg caused by spinal disk problems can be frustrating because it limits your ability to move and do things you enjoy. To manage your low back (lumbar) problem, you may have followed your doctor's conservative treatment plan - rest, medication, physical therapy, and exercise. But, despite your best efforts, the pain won't go away. Surgery can help relieve your pain by treating your disk problem.

Your disk problem may be corrected by a diskectomy, the surgical removal of the portion of the disk that's putting pressure on a nerve, causing pain in your back or leg. Your surgeon may recommend a "classic" diskectomy, or a micro-diskectomy. The basic differences between these surgeries are the size of the incision, how your surgeon reaches your disk, and how much of the disk is removed. The "classic" diskectomy and micro-diskectomy require a hospital stay of 1-2 days.

Recovering from back pain and surgery is an ongoing process. How fast you recover depends on the type of surgery you had, your commitment to working closely with your physical therapist, and moving and exercising correctly, as recommended by your surgeon. It may take six months or longer before your back is completely healed.

You and your surgeon will continue to work together during your recovery. Before you leave the hospital, your surgeon may schedule follow-up visits with you, so that he or she can evaluate your progress, advise you about your activity level, and adjust any medications, if necessary. Sometimes your doctor may recommend follow-up tests to make sure that you are healing properly.

Learn more about Cervical disc surgery, Craniotomy for tumor and aneurysm, or Endovascular treatment of aneurysm.