Back Pain and Sciatica Relief Procedures: Part 1

One of the many benefits of modern medicine is a wide variety of different surgeries and procedures to bring you back pain and sciatica relief in Seattle. We are pleased to offer many of the latest procedures in our offices. To help you better understand some of the options that may be available to you, we are going to highlight several minimally invasive back surgery options. Your doctor can help you decide which is right for you. Stay tuned; with so many great procedures, this is going to take three blog posts to cover.

Endoscopic Decompression

Conditions treated: spinal stenosis, bulging/herniated disc, pinched nerves, bone spurs, sciatica, arthritis of the spine, foraminal stenosis.

Endoscopic decompression is a revolutionary procedure unlike any previous surgical option. It is minimally invasive and uses the latest technologies to make the easier recovery and effective pain relief. We make a small incision near your spine through which an endoscope (also known as an arthroscope) to see your spinal column. We can find and visualize damaged discs and repair them from the inside. Damaged tissue is removed and bulging discs are shrunk back to the proper size using lasers and radio frequency (RF).

Since this procedure is done endoscopically it minimizes pain, recovery time and tissue damage. Previous surgeries required cutting through the adjacent muscles and tissue, which could lead to long and difficult recoveries. Scarring is also very minor, typically only the 1 inch incision marks. This procedure minimizes recovery, but can be quite effective. We use local anesthetic and intravenous sedation and can often perform the procedure in our own outpatient surgical center.

This minimally invasive surgery takes about 90 minutes per disc with about an hour of recovery time in our offices. After the procedure you will need to spend some time on bed rest while your body heals and recovers. We will schedule appointments with you to monitor your progress. Many of our patients notice immediate pain relief, while others take a little more time to notice the results. The ultimate goal of this surgery is to provide long lasting back, neck, leg or spine pain relief.

Interbody Fusion and Facet Fixation

Conditions treated: degenerative disc disease, facet joint disease, spinal stenosis, bulging/herniated disc, pinched nerves, bone spurs, sciatica, arthritis of the spine, foraminal stenosis, .

We use the facet screw to stabilize the spine and to make fusion procedures more effective. The facet fixation procedure can provide pain relief for those with a variety of conditions including Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD). Basically this procedure helps provide stabilization to the back and spine when intervertebral disc degenerates and no longer can provide stability and support and/or when facet joints degenerate. When this happens, the adjacent vertebras collapse and the spinal nerves get compressed. This procedure is like fixing a broken bone; its intent is to join one vertebra to another.

Stabilization of the spine is done by using  facet screws and an intervertebral implant.Depending on patient condition, facet fixation can be done on its own or combined with the intervertebral implant.

Unlike many of our procedures, this one typically brings relief, but cannot make your back as good as new. We hope to bring significant improvement, but complete pain relief is not typically possible. It will take between 6 months and 2 years for the bones to fuse together and during this time you will need to be careful to avoid injury. We find that this procedure can improve quality of life and help you feel better while slowly returning to your regular activities. Yet majority of our patients report great satisfaction with this minimally invasive lumbar fusion surgery.

These are just a few of the many surgeries we offer at the Spine Institute Northwest. Many of these procedures are very complex and need a skilled surgeon. Our doctors are experts in the pain management field and will help you find the right procedure for your problem. Contact us today and improve your quality of life. We bring quality spine care, skilled surgeons and friendly staff to those in Seattle and the surrounding areas. Be sure to watch the blog for part two of the series where we will cover radio frequency neurotomy and endoscopic nerve excision and part three covering the pain pump and spinal cord stimulators.