Back Pain Procedures

Once the cause of your back pain has been determined, the appropriate medical procedure can be determined.  Current medical technology has allowed for the invention of several minimally invasive medical procedures that can be used to cure a number of back pain causes.  Whether you are dealing with a broken vertebra or a pinched nerve, there are medical procedures that can be performed as an alternative to open surgery.  Minimally invasive procedures fall under interventional radiology, or medical procedure that use body imaging techniques to guide instruments in the body, instead of opening up the body to perform the work.

Here are some of the commonly performed back pain procedures.  These medical procedures tend to cover most of the common causes of back pain.  These procedures are only performed if certain conditions exist, or if your have been experiencing chronic back pain for more than 3 months.

Nerve, Muscle, or Soft Tissue Damage

One of the common causes of back pain is damage to the soft tissue.  This can include torn muscles, pulled ligaments, and pinched nerves.  Since the spinal column is the main route for almost all nerves to enter the body, it is very common for leg and back pain to be caused by inflamed tissue irritating a nerve or a nerve becoming pinched. For this cause of back pain, the epidural steroid injection is commonly used.  The majority of these causes can be repaired by the body if given time to do so.  An epidural steroid injection provides relief from pain and an extra boost to help speed up the healing process. 

Commonly referred to as an ESI, it is an injection of corticosteroids into the dural area of the spine.  The dural area of the spine is the membrane the holds the cerebrospinal fluid close to the spinal column. 

Once the area that is causing the pain has been determined, the area is numbed using a localized anesthesia.  Guided by a fluoroscope, a large needle is inserted into the back, guided to the injection point in the epidural space.  Once the needle as reached the epidural space and is in position, a large dose of steroids are injected into the area.  After the injection is complete, the needle is removed and the procedure is complete.  The steroids will begin working within 3 days.  While your can return to normal activities within 24 hours, you may have difficulty walking  due to the localized anesthesia.  You should not drive during the first day.  Many patients get concern once the pain starts returning, but this is normal.  After the anesthesia from the procedure have worn off, you pain will come back until the steroids take effect.

The steroids have several different effects.  To start with, they will numb the area for an extended period of time.  The steroids will help to reduce the pain felt by numbing the nerves, causing your level of discomfort to be reduced.  Secondly, the area will be given a bit of a boost, helping the healing process to move along faster.  This added boost help many to return to a normal life after they've experienced debilitating back pain for extended periods of time.  Finally, the steroids reduce inflammation of soft tissue, which can reduce pressure on certain nerves that could be causing pain. 

While one injection tends to help most people, many have to go back for additional injections.  Patients will normally never have more than three shots during a certain period of time. 

Broken of Fractured Vertebrae

When the bones of the spinal cord become damaged, they can be repaired using minimally invasive medical procedures.  While open surgery is still the prefered option for fixing damaged bones, common procedures are quickly becoming replaced by these procedures.

Vertebroplasty

Vertebroplasty is s French procedure that has been practiced in the United States for several years.  While it is primarily used on osteoporosis patients, this procedure has shown success in use on those with a normal bone density.  When a fractured vertebra is discovered, multiple images are taken to discover the extent of the damage.  If the shape and size of the bone has not changed vertebroplasty can be performed. 

The area around the damaged vertebra is numbed using a localized anesthesia, and a cocktail straw sized needle in injected into the damaged area.  Once in position, bone cement is injected into the damaged area, stabilizing the bone.  When the cement dries.  the bone is as good as new.  You will need to be on restricted activity for a few days following the procedure, but most people experience either complete or partial relief of their back pain with in 48 hours.  Currently, the procedure has around an 85 percent success rate.

Kyphoplasty

If the vertebra has lost its shape and form, vertebroplasty will not successfully repair the damage.  Before the vertebra can be filled with  bone cement, its shape and size must be restored.  Kyphoplasty does this successfully.  Where vertebroplasty simply injects the vertebra with cement, kyphoplasty does so after a few more steps. 

A catheter with a medical balloon is inserted into the vertebra and inflated.  The inflated balloon will restore the size and shape, then once removed, this new space can be filled with bone cement.  This procedure is commonly performed on compression fractures.  Compression fractures occur when the vertebra is literally crushed, and the fracture reduces the height of the bone itself.

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