Spinal surgery
A spinal surgery is performed to treat indefinite lesions within the spine, to relieve a patient from pain and disability. Spinal surgeries are advanced treatments, and they are considered only when non surgical treatment options do not produce the desired results.
The need for a spinal surgery
The New Jersey spine centers provide a wide range of treatments that include laminectomy, spinal fusion, minimally invasive surgery, and decompression.
Spinal surgeries are generally considered only under the following circumstances:
- Physical inability in performing daily tasks.
- Progressive loss of neurological function.
- Sudden onset of bladder and bowel incontinence.
- Pain does not respond to narcotic medications.
- Persistent pain even after many months of non surgical treatment.
Spinal surgeons at the spinal surgery centers, New Jersey use state-of-the-art techniques to provide the best possible care for their patients.
Goals of a spinal surgery
The doctors at New Jersey spinal centers basically perform a surgery to accomplish three main tasks:
- To reduce any spinal deformities caused due to an injury or disease.
- To relieve a patient from pain and numbness by decompressing a diseased or damaged nerve root.
- To stabilize a painful or unstable part of the spine.
An overview of neck and back spinal surgery
Accurate preoperative diagnosis is a critical step that serves to determine the success of a spinal surgery. After identifying and evaluating the underlying spinal condition, the doctors at New Jersey spinal centers discuss the various treatment possibilities with their patients. Spinal surgery is an “elective” process which helps in alleviating the patient’s pain and enhances their ability to perform tasks. Tests such as CT Scans, X-Rays, and MRIs along with complete health scans after a provisional diagnostic procedure, makes the neck and back surgery an elective process.
Some of the conditions requiring a definite spinal surgery in the lumbar and cervical spine at the New Jersey spinal centers include:
- Loss of sensory and motor functions of arm or leg
- Spinal rheumatoid arthritis
- Scoliosis or Kyphosis at thoracic spine
- Spinal instability
- Spinal stenosis
- Disc herniation
- Disc protrusion
Spinal surgery options at the spinal centers New Jersey
The doctors at New Jersey spinal center perform a wide range of spinal surgeries. The most common treatments include:
- Spinal fusion
A type of corrective surgery, spinal fusion is performed when the vertebrae of the spine is the source of pain. Bone grafts (small pieces of bone taken from the patient’s body or obtained from a bone bank) are placed in the affected area and fused with the spine to correct fractured or disabled conditions.
- Total disc replacement
In a total disc replacement surgery, the bony spurs (osteophytes) responsible for spinal compression are first cleared. The diseased or degenerated discs are then completely replaced with metal discs and polyethylene cores. Total disc replacement surgeries help maintain the inter-vertebral height and alleviate pain.
- Microdiscectomy
In this process, a small amount of bone present above or below the damaged disc is removed to relieve pressure on nerve roots.
- Laminectomy
The surgeon removes small bones (lamina) from one or more vertebrae to relieve pressure on the nerve root caused by the narrowing of the nerve root canal.
- Minimally invasive techniques
Minimally invasive spine surgeries are performed using latest endoscopic techniques. This procedure has the advantages of minimizing tissue damage with less scars and blood loss and provides faster recovery too.
Advantages and risks of spinal surgery
Spinal surgeries provide relief from persistent pain, improves the patient’s ability to perform daily tasks, and enhances the quality and longevity of life.
Very rarely, spinal surgeries may cause irrevocable damage of motor and sensory functions, leading to paralysis of arm or leg.
