Failed back surgery syndrome or FBSS is a general term used to describe patients who didn’t go through successful back surgery. You can’t refer it as a syndrome really but rather a condition.
The condition is increasingly becoming a major issue for clinicians. This is because of the rapid increase of patients who are having back surgery and the relevant aging population.
Before you decide to go for the surgery, you should always consult your doctor and determine what options are available. There are several ways of tackling the problem in patients who might not likely benefit from the process.
Even if you go to the best surgeon in the city, there is no guarantee that it will work for you. Statistics say; spinal surgery success is less than 95%. So there is a good chance that you may end up with FBSS.
Before making any significant conclusions, ask your physician to check if there is any reason why you’re having post-surgical back pain. Here is why you could be having the pain.
Incorrect selection contributes to the highest number of patients with FBSS. Your surgeon should try to identify the anatomic lesion on your back that could be responsible for your back pain patterns. In this case, some lesions might be unreliable.
This could be the reason why you’re having chronic pain after spine surgery. After the surgery, the patient may feel pain-free. However, several weeks down the line, he/she will start feeling a sudden pain in the leg.
The symptoms of a recurrent disc herniation always hit the patient acutely, unlike the pain that occurs as a result of a scar tissue, which tends to come slowly.
When visiting a clinician about your problem, provide your previous medical history. It would also help if you had an MRI scan to differentiate between the two possible causes.
If your surgeon can’t identify why you’re experiencing acute pain, he/she might consider checking if there was any technical error during the surgery. It could be a piece of a herniated disc that was misplaced or possibly a fragment of a bone that’s facing a nerve.
In both cases, the outcome would be pain. It’s best if your surgeon takes a postoperative scan to help identify the cause.
You must have been in persistent pain before you decided to have the surgery. However, if the procedure did not address the main cause of the problem, or something went wrong during the process, you’d still experience it. This could be a sign of FBSS.
Usually, most pain is generated from the nerves. But, certain kinds of pain rely more on recurrent disc herniation, scar tissues, or cracked nerves around your back, putting pressure on some nerve root. All this could be a reasonable explanation of why you might be having FBSS.
Before you decide to go for any surgery, know that pain is inevitable. But, with time, it eases.
If you still feel unusual pain several days after the procedure, there is a possibility that the leading cause of the pain was not tackled, or something went wrong. If this happens, make sure to keep in touch with your physician for checkups and scans to identify the possible cause.
There are countless ways of treating FBSS. While you might think that going through the knives again is the best idea, well, that might not be necessary. Talk to your doctor to find out what other options are available for you.
At ACellerated Interventional Orthopedics, we don’t speculate to find out the kind of treatment you need. We take the time to go through your medical history to find out what best suits you.
We don’t focus on short term results. Instead, we put our mind into it to ensure that you never experience the same problem again.
Together with our surgeons, we will walk you through everything you need to know about your condition and the best treatment. We have enough experience to take you through the procedure without interfering with your daily life.
You can read more here about surgery-free solutions.
Book an appointment with us today to start your journey. Let our experienced, compassionate team create your new reality by helping you stay pain-free. (580) 309-5099
