Causes Of Back Pain: Failed Open Back Surgery, Scar Tissue, And Free Disc Fragments

By Author: Adam Arnette
Total Articles: 11
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What is it?
Failed back surgery refers to procedures that use traditional techniques such as open-type laminectomies, laminotomies, and fusions. With a success rate of around 50% and a laundry list of side effects, these procedures often do more harm than good. Scar tissue is a by-product of these procedures, along with severed muscles, ligaments, and other spine-supporting tissues. Free Disc Fragments can arise due to normal wear and tear, trauma, or traditional surgeries. Even some so-called minimally invasive procedures leave disc fragments. These would include laminotomies, foraminotomies, and discectomies performed by institutions based in Tampa, Florida. They leave behind disc fragments because many times a disc herniation or bulge is sliced off—left to float around in your spinal canal.

How it causes pain:
Failed Surgeries, Scar Tissue, and Free Disc Fragments all cause pain in the same way: they disrupt the normal structure and function of the spine and its nerves. Failed Surgeries damage healthy tissues and Scar Tissue and Free Disc Fragments crowd the spaces nerves need to function properly—all ...
... of which translate to pain and/or numbness.

Can it be fixed?
Many patients that have had failed traditional open-back surgeries seek minimally invasive procedures to help their unresolved back pain. The minimally invasive procedures may not be able to completely reverse the effects of an open-back surgery, but some can certainly help ease the pain it has created. Scar Tissue can be removed along with Free Disc Fragments.

How it can be treated:
One specific procedure called the AccuraScope Procedure can actually remove the scar tissue and free disc fragments caused by previous surgeries, trauma, or normal wear and tear, all while causing no additional scar tissue to form. The free disc fragments are vaporized by a laser, leaving no excess material behind.

Lawrence B. Rothstein is a graduate of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and The Ohio State University School of Medicine (1987). He completed his internship, residency in Anesthesia, and fellowship in Interventional Pain Management at the Cleveland Clinic where he was named Chief Fellow. He is board certified in Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.