Failed Back Surgery

Failed back surgery simply means chronic and severe back or leg pain occurs once surgery is complete. Prior to surgery at The Bonati Institute, you will be thoroughly evaluated and diagnosed to identify the source of your pain. Back surgery generally serves two purposes: to decompress pinched nerve roots or to stabilize joints.

There are several reasons why a back surgery may “fail.”

• The surgery failed to correct the original problem, or a subsequent surgery caused complications
• Residual stenosis
• Complications occurred from the original surgery or the healing process
• Too much tissue was removed, causing spinal instability
• Another condition, such as depression, anxiety, or insomnia occurs and needs to be treated
• Nerve or other damage during surgery that causes back or leg pain
• Scarring from the surgery can cause overactive nerves that produce the pain
• Joints could become irritated if the surgery changed your posture or movement

The Bonati Institute can correct failed back surgery through two procedures. In arthroscopic laser discectomy, we remove a portion of your spinal disc that is putting pressure on your nerves. While you are under local anesthesia and sedation, we insert an endoscopic tube through a small incision on your back, remove diseased disc material, and shrink the surrounding disc material with a laser.

The other procedure we use to correct failed back surgery is called the Bonati Arthroscopic Laser Foramenoplasty. In this surgery, we widen the openings in your vertebrae that have become narrowed due to arthritis, bone spurs, or degenerative disc disease. The Bonati Institute also offers four other laser-assisted surgeries. For comprehensive surgical services for your spinal conditions, please contact us today.