Spine surgery may be the most effective treatment for some pathologies that occur in this part of the body, but whether or not surgical treatment is recommended, and what type of surgery is recommended, will depend on the condition of the patient’s spine and a variety of other factors. The experts at Instituto Clavel tell you about it here.
When dealing with a pathology of the spinal column, there are a several different treatment options. Surgery is one of them, but it is not always the most recommended. At Instituto Clavel, our practice is to begin treatment with conservative options whenever the patient’s condition allows. These conservative options include things like changing habits, or doing specialized physical therapy with the aim of ending back pain or other symptoms.
If these methods are not effective, we evaluate other alternatives, such as rhizolysis or epidural infiltrations, which can alleviate localized pain in a minimally invasive way, without the need for surgery.
Once these options have been tried, if the patient does not improve, then it is time to consider surgical treatment. Of course, if the patient comes to our center when their pathology is already very advanced or their condition is urgent, surgery will be recommended directly.
Spinal pathologies that may require surgery
Here are some of the most common spinal conditions that may require surgery if they do not improve after trying conservative treatments:
- Degenerative disc disease (lumbar or cervical)
- Cervical disc herniation
- Lumbar disc herniation
- Scoliosis
- Sacroiliitis
- Lumbar spinal stenosis
- Spondylolisthesis or instability of the spine
- Lumbalgia
- Vertebral fractures
Learn more about these pathologies here
Types of spine surgery
The nature of the patient's spinal pathology and its characteristics, will determine whether one type of surgery or another will be recommended. At Instituto Clavel, we are specialists in minimally invasive spine surgery that reduces risks and allows patients a faster recovery. The following are some of the surgical procedures we perform:
- Arthroplasty or artificial disc replacement (ADR): indicated for cases of cervical or lumbar disc degeneration and chronic radicular pain, when conservative treatments have not been effective. In this procedure, the damaged disc or discs are replaced with artificial discs.
- Athrodesis or spinal fusion surgery: recommended for vertebral fractures, spinal instability, severe degenerative pathology, or herniated discs of the lumbar spine
- Lateral approach fusion surgery: this may be recommended for degenerative disc disease, stenosis of the lumbar spine, spondylolisthesis, pathology of the adjacent segment or deformities such as degenerative scoliosis in adults
- Sacroiliac fusion: this surgical treatment is used in cases of sacroiliitis
- Scoliosis surgery: used when degree of scoliosis is severe, or involves imbalance
- Cervical or lumbar microdiscectomy: technique used for cases of pain that is refractory to analgesic medication, compression of the spinal cord, or motor deficit due to nerve root injury
- Laminectomy or cervical or lumbar decompression: recommended in cases of spinal stenosis with signs of involvement of nerve structures or in order to access the spinal canal to treat tumor or vascular pathology
More information about these surgeries
As you can see, there are many different types of spine surgery. In each case, when one of these procedures is recommended, the specialist takes into account all the individual characteristics of the patient and their condition. If you have questions about a specific case and would like to have it evaluated, get properly diagnosed, and put an end to pain, our medical team can help you!
Categories: Spine treatments, Spine pathologies, Surgery