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Chronic Neuropathic Pain & Failed Back Surgery Syndrome

Doctors perform laminectomies, discectomies and spinal fusion surgeries when noninvasive treatments fail to manage chronic neuropathic back pain. Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS), or Post-Laminectomy Syndrome, is the chronic neuropathic pain left unrelieved by spinal surgery.

  1. Facts

    • According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), FBSS affects over 10,000 people each year in the United States. While identifying patients likely to develop this syndrome is difficult, stress with decreased cortisol production may play a role, according to the National Library of Medicine.

    Causes

    • Pressure on root nerves from scar tissue (epidural fibrosis) and narrowed peripheral nerve outlets (foraminal stenosis) can prevent pain relief. Spinal fusion can create neuropathic pain in areas above and below fused vertebrae.

    Considerations

    • Spinal surgeries relieve nerve compression but do not relieve neural inflammation. If a specific disk is not responsible for your chronic nerve pain, surgery may not help.

    Remedies

    • Your doctor may suggest epidural steroid injections to decrease the inflammatory pain left untreated by decompression surgery. Doctors may implant a spinal cord stimulator, blocking pain signals to the brain.

    Warning

    • According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), pain medications and other noninvasive pain management techniques may be ineffective against FBSS pain.

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