What Is Spine Surgery?
Spine surgery is a type of advanced surgical technique in orthopedics. Spine involves the cervical and the lumbar vertebrae, the cauda equine, spinal canal, foramine and other surrounding tissues. One of the most common problems that are found with the spine disorder is the back pain. The pain in the back is also known as lumbago. There are various causes that could lead to spinal disorders starting from the infection, injury to degenerative deformity of the bones. Spine surgery is done when none of the conventional medical approaches work and fail to give relief. The goal of the surgery is to help the spine work well, improve the flexibility and mobility of the joint and also to give relief in pain.
Types of Spine Surgery:-
The type of surgery that would be performed on an individual depends entirely on the underlying causative factor for the problem. Depending on the cause the Spine surgery can be of following types.
- Discectomy – it means removal of a part of a disc that is herniated.
Percutaneous –in this procedure a laser or a suction device is used to remove the disc through a small incision on the back.
Microsurgery –it’s a discectomy that involves a incision less than 1inch. The surgeon removes the damaged portion of the disc along with a small portion of the bone covering of the spinal canal with the help of a microscope.
- Disc replacement – in this procedure the surgeon removes the damaged disc and replaces it with a prosthetic one between the vertebrae.
- Laminectomy- it’s a surgery done to remove spinal stenosis. The narrowing of the spinal column causes pressure on the nerve root. It is performed to enlarge the spinal column by removing the bony spurs, lamina or any other bony protrusions.
- Foraminotomy- it is to relieve pain associated with a compressed spinal nerve. In this surgery the surgeon removes the bones at the sides of the vertebrae to widen the space of spinal exit. This extra space gives relief to the pressure on the nerves.
- Interlaminar implants- it is a minimally invasive alternative to laminectomy. In this procedure the surgeon implants a U –shaped device between two vertebrae. The implants provide stability and allow normal movement of the spine.
- Spinal fusion –
- Vertrebroplasty and kyphoplasty – this is the cementing procedure. in both the procedure the pain and compression fractures of the vertebrae is relieved by bolstering the bones with cement like material through a needle. In kyphoplasty the surgeon also places a small balloon like device into the compressed bones to restore the height of the crumbled bone and reduce the deformity.
Causes–
- Foreign and loose bodies in the joints – These foreign or loose bodies in the spine are a result of trauma from sports, osteoarthritis, non-cancerous tumour or spinolith(an autologous loose body causing stenosis).
- Lesions of bone or cartilages – Lesions occur in the bone or cartilages by tear or fracture. The cartilages covering the bones can be crushed or damaged due to osteochondritis dissecans(bone under the cartilage dies due to cessation of blood flow to the joint).
- Muscle tension/sprains – Frequently the pain in the back could be due to some sprain or strained muscles or ligament. A muscle spasm can result from lifting a heavy thing or making an abrupt movement while carrying something improperly. These things can result in muscle tension and lead to pain.
- Degenerative Joint Diseases – Diseases like Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lumbar stenosis etc are known as degenerative joint diseases. Of the numerous degenerative joint diseases osteoarthritis is the most common in which spine surgery is applied. Due to continuous wear and tear of the vertebral joint erosion of cartilages and bony spurs formation occurs. The erosion of the cartilage results from the aging process and the damaged cartilage stimulates the formation of new bone growth known as bony spur or osteophytes.
- Anatomical or structural disorders – The spinal bones are cushioned with disks, any damage, rupture or bulging can result in spinal problems. Herniated disk can result in sciatica pain that travels from the buttock and down to the legs. Loss of abnormal curvature of the spine like scoliosis, or kyphosis can result in severe neurological problems.
- Injuries or fractures – Hip replacement surgery can be opted in cases where there has been severe damage to the hip joints following a major accident. Compound fractures make healing difficult. The bones don’t join properly and the alignments in such injuries are not symmetrical.
- Bone Tumours – Tumours of the spine bone can result in pressure on the nerves and cause severe. The tumours of the spine joints could be either benign like exostosis, fibrous dysplasia, bone cyst etc or malignant like Ewing’s sarcoma, osteosarcoma etc. This results in damage to the bones.
- Movement and posture – Some every posture and routine activities can also results in backache. Things like driving for long without breaks, sitting in front of the computers for hours together, overstretching, twisting, or sleeping on a mattress which doesn’t support the spine.
- Infections – Infection from shingles, viruses or fungus can results in spinal pain. The infection can be classified by the anatomical locations which are involved like the vertebral columns, intervertebral discs and spinal canal. Vertebral osteomylitis is a bacterial infection from open trauma. If a paraspinal abscess or a psoas muscle abscess is present the patient may experience pain radiating to the hip or thigh area.
- Other medical conditions – Cauda equina syndrome is a condition caused by ependymomas, metastatic cancer, paget’s disease of the bone or any other localized lumbar tumours. It is a rare disorder that compresses on the spinal nerve root.
Sign and symptoms:-
- Pain while moving or working for a long time
- Stiffness from rest or getting up from a posture
- Loss of flexibility with less range of mobility
- Soreness with aching back pain
- Deformity of the joints
- Nerve root pain
- Weakness of voluntary muscles and bowel or bladder dysfunction
- Paralysis
Technique used in the Spine Surgery
- 3D image guided spine surgery- this involves using intraoperative scans and a surgical guidance system that allows the surgeon to visualize the patient’s anatomy in 3D and through instrumentation navigate through delicate structures and preserve healthy anatomy of the spine.
- Open Spine Surgery – it’s the conventional way of surgery that involves a large incision and retracts or pulls the muscle to the side to get a clear view.
- Minimal-invasive surgery- in this procedure the surgeon makes a small incision, decreased blood loss, the hospitalization and medication is less. Through the small percutaneous incision special tools called tubular retractors are inserted. It is useful for spinal fusion and decompression. The diseased and damaged parts are removed and devices such as screws and rods are inserted through this retractor.
- Balloon Kyphoplasty –it is helpful for repairing the fractures due to cancers, benign tumours or osteoporosis. During the procedure, orthopedic balloons are used to elevate the fractured vertebra to put it back to its normal position and finally to stabilize the bone cementing is done.
Why choose medcureIndia?
MedcureIndia provides prime options for treatment from around the globe. You get highly qualified doctors who are skilled spine surgeon in India. They are well equipped with the latest advancements in the field of surgery. The focus is to address to the individual needs for a customized healing experience.