Sciatica Surgeries

Sciatic surgery is necessary for patients suffering from sciatica. These patients show continuous weakening in the legs and proof of some physical irregularity of the spine, like a bone spur or spinal stenosis caused by bone growth.

The surgery for sciatica is carried out if self-healing is not possible. Laser surgery can be performed after three months of treatment, or greater, and the patient has disabling leg pain.

There are various kinds of surgery for sciatica (dependent on the causes of sciatica) such as microdiscectomy (if the sciatica pain was brought about by a disc herniation) or lumbar laminectomy and discetomy (if the sciatica pain waxes and wanes for years). The surgery aims to take out the disc segment rubbing against the nerve root. These surgeries were proposed to help out in the removal of pressure and inflammation particularly if the condition is severe. Surgery for sciatica pain is not advisable for all patients because non-surgical treatments like medicine and exercises can usually cure it.

Patients expecting a short surgery recovery for their sciatica showed better outcomes than those patients with low expectations about their recovery. Those patients who have chosen surgery over non-surgical procedures had nearly three fold the likelihood of lower symptom scores after the surgery in comparison to those patients who did not prefer surgery. There are also cases wherein sciatica returned after a surgery due to complications such as nerve and muscle injury, infection, disfiguring, and the need for another operation.

Orthopedic surgery pictures sciatica as a recurrent back problem felt both by men and women. Both neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons can carry out spine surgery. At present, there is a promising field of "spine surgery" that integrates both specialties.  Patients should make sure that the appropriate board authorizes the doctor in charge. All orthopedic surgeons are exposed to spine surgery and it gives emphasis on trauma or surgery which is associated with sports medicine.

Both the neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons who have specialties in spine surgery are trained in taking extra care of disc herniations, disc degenerations, spinal stenosis, fractures of the spine, and spine slippage. Both should not perceive one another as competitors but as partners working harmoniously for the welfare of the patients with sciatica. The association of sciatica after heart surgery was not given importance until June    2000 when a patient with sciatica experienced a mild heart attack leading to an open-heart surgery (quadruple by-pass). This resulted to reduced walking time for the patient. At this point, his pain in the leg was very frequent and intense. The correlation of sciatica after heart surgery is still being studied. It is hypothesized that a heart operation might trigger irritation and inflammation in the nerves resulting to severe sciatica.