In medical terms, anterior means the front of the body and posterior means the back of the body. Medial means toward the middle, and lateral means off to the side. For example, posterior lateral fusion surgery means that the surgeon makes a cut in the back of the spine and off to the side. Anterior fusion surgery means that the surgeon makes a cut in the abdomen and pushes the organs aside to expose the front of the spine. A circumferential fusion surgery combines both approaches and means the surgeon will fuse the spine in the back and in the front. Other categories of fusion surgery depend on the type of metal plates, screws, cages, or rods that your surgeon might use to keep the bones together.

Sometimes, only bone chips are used to keep bones together with fusion surgery. If the bone chips come from somewhere else in your body, this is called an autologous bone graft. Bone chips for spine fusion surgery are often taken from the hip area. If the bone chips come from another person, this is called allograft bone. If artificial bone chips are used, this is called bone morphogenic protein. Your doctor can talk about the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

If you and your surgeon are considering fusion surgery, it’s important to remember that multidisciplinary rehabilitation might be just as good as fusion surgery at making you feel better. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation involves many types of doctors who work together with you to make your back better. There are also risks involved with fusion surgery, such as pain where the operation was done, infection, and death.

Sometimes decompression surgery and fusion surgery are done at the same time. Fusion surgery is usually only done for people who have severe low back pain and spinal instability. The instability could be due to a fracture or severe degeneration in the spine. The goal of fusion surgery is to prevent too much movement in the spine.

Laminectomy is usually only used if you have low back pain that runs down your leg. It can also be used to relieve pressure on a nerve that might produce other leg symptoms, like weakness or numbness. It’s usually only recommended if you have already tried medication, supervised exercise therapy, and spinal manipulation therapy without any relief. Even if this procedure helps with the symptoms in your leg, it might not help with your low back pain.

Scientific studies usually show that laminectomy can help severe leg symptoms heal faster but might not improve pain in the lower back. Some doctors think it’s better to try epidural steroid injections or nerve root injections before laminectomy. There are also risks involved with having a laminectomy, like an infection, nerve damage, bleeding, and even death. Only a qualified surgical spine specialist can do this procedure.

Although your doctor may refer you for laminectomy, it’s important for you to know that multidisciplinary rehabilitation might be just as good as surgery at making you feel better. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation involves many types of doctors who work together with you to make your back better.

Sometimes the surgeon will only have a small incision in your spine and use a microscope to view the disc. That procedure is called microdiscectomy. Sometimes a laser can be used instead of a knife to remove the disc. That procedure is called laser discectomy.

Discectomy is usually only used if you have low back pain that runs down your leg. It can also be used to relieve pressure on a nerve that might produce other symptoms in your leg, like weakness or numbness. It’s usually only recommended if you have already tried medication, supervised exercise therapy, and spinal manipulation therapy without any relief. Even if this procedure helps with the symptoms in your leg, it might not help with your low back pain.

Scientific studies usually show that discectomy can help severe leg symptoms heal faster but might not improve pain in the lower back. Some doctors think it’s better to try epidural steroid injections before discectomy. There are also risks involved with having a discectomy, like an infection, nerve damage, bleeding, and even death. Only a qualified surgical spine specialist can do this procedure.

Although your doctor may refer you for discectomy, it’s important for you to know that multidisciplinary rehabilitation might be just as good as surgery at making you feel better. Multidisciplinary rehabilitation involves many types of doctors who work together with you to make your back better.

The main types of decompression surgery are called discectomy and laminectomy. A discectomy is when part of a disc in the spine is removed with surgery. A laminectomy is when part of a lamina in the spine is removed with surgery.

With any type of surgery, you usually cannot eat after midnight the night before. On the day of your surgery, you will go to the hospital. You will then be put to sleep by an anesthesiologist. The operation will usually take between 2-4 hours, but that depends on the type of surgery and if there are any complications. After the surgery, you might stay in the hospital for a few days to recover. Once you leave the hospital, you might have to spend more time recovering at home before going back to work. The surgeon will often recommend that you start rehabilitation with a physical therapist within a few weeks of the operation.

The procedure usually begins with the patient wearing a medical gown and lying face down on a treatment table. The skin in the area around where the needle will be placed is first cleaned with rubbing alcohol or iodine wipes. The doctor will then slowly insert the needle through the skin and muscles and into the spine until the needle is in the injured disc.

After injecting an anesthetic, the doctor will wait a few minutes until the area is numb. Then your doctor will remove the needle and put a larger one in the same spot. This needle has a wire that can transmit energy. When your doctor has that needle in the right spot, the tip will be activated for a few minutes to destroy tissue in that area. Patients might have to wear a back brace for a few months after this procedure to make sure that the structures of the back don’t move around too much.

Any relief you might get from nucleoplasty might be temporary. Some doctors think they should only be offered to a very small number of patients with disc injuries. Most people with low back pain and leg pain are not good candidates for nucleoplasty.

The procedure usually begins with the patient wearing a medical gown and lying face down on a treatment table. The skin in the area around where the needle will be placed is first cleaned with rubbing alcohol or iodine wipes. The doctor will then slowly insert the needle through the skin and muscles and into the spine until the needle is in the injured disc.

After injecting an anesthetic, the doctor will wait a few minutes until the area is numb. Then your doctor will remove the needle and put a larger one in the same spot. This needle has an electric wire that can heat tissues to kill them. When your doctor has that needle in the right spot, the tip will be heated for a few minutes to kill the nerves in that area. Patients might have to wear a back brace for a few months after this procedure to make sure that the structures of the back don’t move around too much.

Any relief you might get from IDET might be temporary. Some doctors think they should only be offered to a very small number of patients with disc injuries. Most people with low back pain and leg pain are not good candidates for IDET.

The procedure usually begins with the patient wearing a medical gown and lying face down on a treatment table. The skin in the area around where the needle will be placed is first cleaned with rubbing alcohol or iodine wipes. The doctor will then slowly insert the needle through the skin and muscles and into the spine until he or she is near the facet joints where the medication should go.

After injecting an anesthetic, the doctor will wait a few minutes until the area is numb. Then your doctor will remove the needle and put a larger one in the same spot. This needle has an electric wire that can heat tissues to kill them. When your doctor has that needle in the right spot, the tip will be heated to kill the nerves in that area.

Any relief you might get from facet rhizotomy might be temporary. Some doctors think they should only be offered to patients when facet injections were able to completely eliminate their pain.

Some of the minimally invasive treatments you may have heard of for low back pain are facet rhizotomy, intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET), and nucleoplasty. Usually, they are done by non-surgical spine specialists. Your doctor will usually order an MRI or CT scan before doing this procedure. The doctor will take an image of your spine while giving the needle to make sure it goes in the right area. This can be done with a special type of X-ray called fluoroscopy.

The medication injected is usually a steroid or an anesthetic, or a combination of both. An anesthetic is a medication used to temporarily numb an area. Your doctor will want to make sure that the medication injected reaches the nerves in your back that might be causing you pain.

The procedure usually begins with the patient wearing a medical gown and lying face down on a treatment table. The skin in the area around where the needle will be placed is first cleaned with rubbing alcohol or iodine wipes. The doctor will then slowly insert the needle through the skin and muscles and into the trigger points that were found during the exam. Sometimes many trigger points will be injected during the same treatment session.

Any relief you might get from trigger point injections is often temporary, but it’s hard to know how long it might last.

The procedure usually begins with the patient wearing a medical gown and lying face down on a treatment table. The skin in the area around where the needle will be placed is first cleaned with rubbing alcohol or iodine wipes. The doctor will then slowly insert the needle through the skin and muscles and into the spine until he or she is near the sacroiliac joints where the medication should go.

Any relief you might get from sacroiliac injections is often temporary, but it’s hard to know how long it might last.

The procedure usually begins with the patient wearing a medical gown and lying face down on a treatment table. The skin in the area around where the needle will be placed is first cleaned with rubbing alcohol or iodine wipes. The doctor will then slowly insert the needle through the skin and muscles and into the spine until he or she is near the facet joints where the medication should go.

Any relief you might get from facet injections is often temporary, but it’s hard to know how long it might last. Some doctors view facet injections as a diagnostic test, not a treatment, to help decide which patients should get facet rhizotemy treatment.

The procedure usually begins with the patient wearing a medical gown and lying face down on a treatment table. Sometimes these injections can be given with the patient sitting on the side of a treatment table. The skin in the area around where the needle will be placed is cleaned with rubbing alcohol or iodine wipes. The doctor will then slowly insert the needle through the skin and muscles and into the spine until he or she has reached the epidural space where the medication should go. Your doctor will want to make sure that the medication injected reaches the nerves in your back that might be causing you pain.

Epidural steroid injections are usually only used if you have low back pain that runs down your leg and if you have already tried medication, supervised exercise therapy, and spinal manipulation therapy without any relief. The relief from epidural steroid injections is often temporary. These injections can’t be repeated too often because the medication used is not very good for your body and can interfere with healing.

It’s important to know that epidural injection can be painful to get. Epidural steroid injections also have many side effects. Minor side effects include headache, dizziness, pain where the needle was injected, nausea, vomiting, increased low back pain, fever, and difficulties urinating.

Injections are performed by a doctor with advanced training. For these procedures, injections are needles placed into your lower back and are used to inject medication. The medication injected is usually a steroid or an anesthetic, or a combination of both. A steroid is a strong anti-inflammatory medication that can decrease swelling and might also help pain. Examples of steroids that can be injected include prednisone and cortisone. An anesthetic is a medication used to temporarily numb an area. Examples of anesthetics include lidocaine and procaine. Sometimes the doctor will take an image of your spine while giving the needle to make sure it goes in the right area. This can be done with a special type of X-ray called fluoroscopy.

There are many different types of injections used for low back pain. They include epidural steroid injections, facet injections, sacroiliac joint injections, and trigger point injections. Each type of injection places the needle in a slightly different area of the spine to target different body parts. Some side effects are very serious, such as infection, bleeding, spinal cord injury, and even death. Only a qualified specialist doctor can give you these injections.