Failed Back Surgery

Back surgery success rates vary, and while many people experience positive outcomes, others end up no better or even worse off. If you undergo spine surgery with unsatisfactory results, visit experienced interventional pain specialist Gabriel Mattei, MD. At his offices in Atlantis, Boynton Beach, and Wellington, Florida, Dr. Mattei performs comprehensive failed back surgery evaluations to identify the problem and treat it effectively. Call the Gabriel Mattei, MD, office nearest you today or schedule a consultation online for an expert failed back surgery assessment.

What is failed back surgery?

Failed back surgery is a complex outcome some patients experience after spinal operations. It’s often challenging to diagnose and treat.

You should expect pain after back or neck surgery, but it should gradually decrease. However, your pain likely worsens if your procedure doesn’t fix the problem. In addition, you might develop other symptoms, such as:

• Lower limb numbness or tingling
• Mobility issues
• Muscle spasms
• Slower than expected recovery
• Anxiety and/or depression

Failed back surgery could increase your dependence on pain medications for symptom management. Strong painkillers like opioids are effective short term but become less so with chronic conditions. They can also cause side effects and a high risk of addiction.

To avoid these complications and find relief from failed back surgery symptoms, visit Gabriel Mattei, MD.

Why does failed back surgery occur?

Common reasons for failed back surgery include: 

Disc problems

Spine surgeons often treat herniated discs surgically. They may perform a microdiscectomy (removing the herniated disc portion) or discectomy (extracting the entire disc). To restore the spine’s stability, they fuse the vertebrae on either side or implant an artificial disc.

Problems that can occur include recurrent disc herniation, improper fusion, and implant failure.

Misdiagnosis

One of the leading failed back surgery causes is a misdiagnosis, where the surgeon doesn’t address your pain’s true source.

Poor patient screening

In some cases, patients aren’t good candidates for spine surgery, putting them at high risk of failed back surgery syndrome.

Surgeon error

Suitably skilled and experienced surgeons don’t often make mistakes, but they can happen. Examples include leaving loose bone fragments behind or damaging nerves at the surgical site.

What can I do about failed back surgery?

When you visit Dr. Mattei with failed back surgery symptoms, he completes a comprehensive evaluation, including a medical history and symptom review, physical exam, and diagnostic imaging procedures. This process enables him to identify and treat the cause of your pain.

The treatment you need depends on your failed back surgery’s causes and effects. Options include:

• Medication management
• Physical therapy
• Epidural steroid injections
• Disc denervation
• Nerve blocks (local anesthetic injections)
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy
• Radiofrequency ablation
• Minimally invasive lumbar decompression (mild®)
• Spinal cord stimulation

Your personalized treatment plan might include several pain management approaches to optimize comfort and mobility.

Call Gabriel Mattei, MD, today or schedule an appointment online to learn more about effective failed back surgery treatment.