Column Surgery

Is the portion of the spine of the neck area and consists of 7 vertebrae and 8 pairs of spinal nerves called C1 to C8. The two most common problems that people have in the cervical spine are hernia and stenosis.

The specific surgery of the cervical spine depends on what is causing the problem and is and it's done under general anesthesia with the patient unconscious and free of pain.

In the event that a hernia occurs in a single disc, it can be removed through an incision in the front or back of the body. If there is a need to remove more than one disc, then it will be necessary to fuse the vertebrae to prevent it from becoming unstable.

It is a more complex problem to treat that requires a more extensive surgery. In this case, it is necessary to decompress the spinal nerves and the medulla and can also be done through an incision in the front or back of the body. Again, if the removal of the bone causes instability in the spine, spinal fusion may be needed.

In a spine surgery using microdiscectomy or microdecompression, a small part of the bone is removed below or above the nerve root to relieve the neural impingement to give the nerve more space to heal. This is done in the case of a lumbar disc herniation and is more effective in treating leg pain or radiculopathy than low back pain.

Surgery of the lumbar spine is done while the patient is sedated under the effect of general anesthesia. An incision is made over the problem area and the portion of tissue and bone that wraps up or covers the spinal cord that is causing pressure on the nerve is removed. The hole through which the nerve passes can be enlarged to avoid further pressure on it. Sometimes, spinal fusion is necessary to stabilize the área.