Risks from surgery for spinal stenosis include damage to the nerves, tissue tears, chronic pain, and trouble passing urine. You may not be able to go back to all of your normal activities for at least several months. There is a chance that surgery might not relieve your symptoms.
Usually, our spine specialists consider surgery only if symptoms such as weakness, numbness, or pain in the arms or legs indicate severe or progressive nerve or spinal cord compression.
No. Sometimes, problems occur that are out of your control. But remember: Spine surgery complications are rare. Most people have good long-term outcomes after spine surgery.
Successful results of surgery were achieved in 86.7% of patients with lumbar stenosis, 77.6% of patients with lumbar stenosis with herniated disc, and 63.6% of patients with lateral recess stenosis (Fig. 1 center). Successful results of surgery for lumbar stenosis declined to 69.6% by 1 year postoperatively.
Nerve injury and paralysis
Around one in every 20-100 people who has lumbar decompression surgery will develop new numbness or weakness in one or both legs as a result of the operation. Paralysis is an uncommon, but serious, complication that can occur as a result of lumbar decompression surgery.
With severe spinal stenosis, the spinal canal has narrowed to a considerable degree. As a result, patients with the severe form of this condition may experience a significant loss of function, potentially including bladder and/or bowel function.
A traditional spinal fusion surgery with general anesthesia takes about four hours and requires a hospital stay of three to four days as well as IV painkillers. The awake spine surgery takes half the time and typically has patients out of the hospital within 24 hours.
Most people have good results from surgery and are able to return to a normal lifestyle after they heal. People tend to have less leg pain and can walk better afterward. However, surgery doesn't cure arthritis or other conditions that might have caused the spinal canal to narrow in the first place.
A patient will usually do as well having lumbar stenosis surgery sooner as he or she would if the surgery were done later. In the event of progressive weakness in the legs, then spinal stenosis surgery should be considered on an urgent basis rather than delayed in order to reduce the chance of long term nerve damage.
In most cases, a doctor will recommend nonsurgical treatments first. However, surgery might be considered immediately if the spinal stenosis has reached a serious stage. Examples of this are numbness or weakness that interferes with walking, impaired bowel or bladder function, or other neurological involvement.
You may not be able to have minimally invasive spine surgery if you have extensive epidural scarring, an active infection, or severe osteoporosis.
Understand how certain health factors, conditions, or habits such as age, smoking, obesity, and sleep apnea may increase the chance for complications. Certain health factors can increase surgery and anesthesia risks.
Risks of Untreated Spinal Stenosis
Constant Pain and Discomfort: Even if your condition begins with only mild or intermittent pain, it will likely become worse over time, occurring more often and at worse levels.
Interspinous spacers are a new approach to treating spinal stenosis that work gently and in a targeted way by opening the spinal canal to create room and reduce pressure on crowded nerves. A spinous process is the part of your vertebra that projects backward from your vertebral arch.
You'll be encouraged to walk and move around the day after surgery and it's likely you'll be discharged 1 to 4 days afterwards. It will take about 4 to 6 weeks for you to reach your expected level of mobility and function (this will depend on the severity of your condition and symptoms before the operation).
In fact, an estimated 70% of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis can effectively manage their symptoms with non-surgical treatments alone.
In severe cases, spinal stenosis may cause partial or complete leg paralysis that requires emergency medical treatment.
Spinal stenosis symptoms tend to worsen the more you walk without treating it since the leading cause is a contraction of the spinal cord, which irritates the leg nerves. The irritation of the terms causes inflammation, and so this should be part of the treatment.
Laminectomy. This surgery removes the back part (lamina) of the affected spinal bone. This eases pressure on the nerves by making more space around them. In some cases, that bone may need to be linked to nearby spinal bones with metal hardware and a bone graft.
If you need spine surgery, there's a chance your doctor will ask if you'd like to be awake for the procedure. It's a relatively new option, and research shows it has some important advantages over general anesthesia.
After a few weeks, the patient should be able to walk unassisted. The recovering patient should be able to resume other tasks like driving, running, or walking long distances. Depending on the procedure, the patient may even be able to resume a normal life.
Pain is normal in the weeks following back surgery, as tissues heal, nerves regain normal function, and inflammation decreases. However, some people may have pain beyond the three to six month period that is considered a normal healing time.
Numbness in your genital region and/or loss of bladder or bowel control is another indication that you suffer from severe spinal stenosis. It's a rare but very serious complication that requires immediate attention. “For severe stenosis, surgery is generally recommended,” Dr.
A neurosurgeon may perform a laminectomy with or without fusing vertebrae or removing part of a disk. A spinal fusion with or without spinal instrumentation may be used to enhance fusion and support unstable areas of the spine.