A brief note on failed back surgery syndrome.

Cause and treatment failed back surgery syndrome

Failed back surgery syndrome is a generalized term that is often used to describe the condition where lower back pain persists or appears after spine surgery. The pain starts immediately after surgery or a few weeks or months after. FBSS is also known as failed back syndrome and post-surgical spine syndrome. You can get the proper treatment at the best Orthopaedic Hospital in Ludhiana.

What is the definition of failed back surgery syndrome?

Failed back surgery syndrome is the term used for continued pain a patient has after an unsuccessful back surgery. The patient is usually referred to a pain management specialist to treat pain. The goal of spinal surgery is to decompress a nerve root or to stabilize a painful joint. FBSS occurs when surgery is unsuccessful or negatively affects a structure near the problem area.

What are the causes of failed back surgery syndrome?

Several reasons are responsible for the failed back surgery syndrome.

Adjacent segment disease: Adjacent segment disease is a potential cause of failed back surgery syndrome after spinal fusion surgery.
Arachnoiditis: Arachnoiditis is inflammation of one of the three protective linings surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It can cause severe burning, stinging pain, and other nerve-related problems.
Persistent Neural Decompression: Decompression surgeries remove bone and other impeding structures compressing spinal nerves.
Pseudoarthrosis: Pseudoarthrosis or non-union is the medical term used to describe a complication of spinal fusion surgery that often involves instrumentation and fusion. Spinal fusion is performed to join two or more spinal bones together to stabilize one or more spine levels to stop movement.
Recurrence of Earlier Diagnosis: Sometimes, your original symptoms return after spine surgery. A spinal disc treated with microdiscectomy may re-herniate.
Epidural fibrosis: Epidural fibrosis is a medical term describing scar tissue forming around one or more spinal nerve roots. Epidural fibrosis may develop months after spine surgery, and it can cause a spike in pain.
Spinal infection: Symptoms of post-surgical spinal infection include fever, wound drainage and redness, chills, and headache. These and other related symptoms typically show up a few weeks after surgery.

Treatment of the failed back surgery syndrome.

The treatment plans for failed back surgery syndrome are as follows:

Muscle Relaxants: Muscle relaxants, as the name suggests, work to relax your muscles by reducing the activity of the central nervous system.
Neuroleptics: Neuroleptics are a medication used to stabilize overactive cells in the spinal cord. These medications can help better manage pain caused by nerve compression.
Pain Relievers: In severe pain cases, your doctor may prescribe opiates for a short period to help relieve your pain symptoms.
Physical Therapy: Your doctor may recommend specific physical therapy exercises to reduce your pain symptoms by strengthening the muscles that support the spine.
Epidural Steroid Injections: Epidural steroid injections deliver anti-inflammatory steroids directly to the epidural region of the patient’s spine to reduce pressure and inflammation in the back.
Radiofrequency Ablation: Radiofrequency ablation involves delivering targeted radio-frequency energy to specific nerves to help reduce those nerves from sending pain signals to your brain.
Spinal Cord Stimulation: Spinal cord stimulation is a procedure that involves using a small device called a spinal cord stimulator to attach it to your spine.