Revision spinal surgery is surgery performed in certain patients to correct problems caused by an earlier spine surgery.
Who is a Candidate for Revision Spinal Surgery?
Revision spinal surgery is indicated in patients with chronic pain even after surgery. Other factors indicated for revision spinal surgery include:
- Scar tissue formation around the incision
- Unsuccessful surgery
- Surgery at wrong site
- Surgery in non-eligible candidates
- Improper diagnosis
- Post-surgical complications
Failed back syndrome or failed back surgery is a condition used to describe persistent back pain following back surgeries.
If pain persists in your neck or back to the point that it impacts your quality of life, the best course of treatment may be revision spine surgery. This procedure aims to correct what may have been done either incorrectly or inadequately in the initial surgery. It can also address areas of the spine that were misdiagnosed and not the original focus during that first surgery or those that have worsened with time. In any case, the goal of revision spine surgery is to help the patient find relief and return to the types of activities they’ve been missing.
Revision Spinal Surgery Procedure
The type of surgery you need depends on your specific condition. For example, a reoccurring disc herniation may require that a portion of the disc be removed to relieve the pressure on your nerve root. Another common form of revision spine surgery includes removing and replacing hardware that has since become faulty.
Revision spinal surgery can be performed using minimally invasive techniques, where surgery is done by making small incisions. This method causes less damage to muscles and conjunctive tissue surrounding the spine. Laser scalpel will be used to repair the damaged tissues which involve cutting away broken, malformed, or damaged tissue.
Procedures intended to repair previous interventions include laminotomy, foraminotomy, facet thermal ablation, spinal fusion, and microdiscectomy. Rehabilitation after revision surgery includes exercises to harden the weakened muscles in the affected areas.
What are the risks of getting revision spinal surgery?
Revision spine surgery is a much more complicated procedure than initial spine surgery and carries more risks for patients. Despite this, revision spine surgery can restore a patient’s quality of life with an accurate diagnosis and appropriate surgical approach.
With minimally invasive surgical techniques, the risk of spine surgeries, even in revision settings, are actually lower than open spine surgeries. In some cases, open spine surgery can have a complication rate upwards of 30 percent.
Minimally invasive surgeries have a complication rate less than 10 percent.
With modern instruments and technology that we have at Dayton Orthopedic Surgery, we can accomplish these minimally invasive surgeries very easily and limit the risk to each patient.
If you are experiencing ongoing back pain after spinal surgery, and would like to be assessed for revision spinal surgery, contact Dayton Orthopedic Surgery at (937) 436-5763.