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Diskectomy - Risks

Alternative Names

Spinal microdiskectomy; Microdecompression; Laminotomy; Disk removal; Spine surgery - diskectomy

Risks:

Risks for any anesthesia are:

Reactions to medications
Breathing problems

Risks for any surgery include are:

Bleeding
Infection

Risks for this surgery are:

Damage to the nerves that come out of the spine, causing weakness or pain that does not go away.
Your back pain does not get better or comes back again later.
Because of the small surgical cut used in a microdiskectomy, the doctor may miss some disk fragments. This could cause you to continue having pain after surgery.

Herniated nucleus pulposis

Skeletal spine

Spine supporting structures

Cauda equina

Spinal stenosis

Microdiskectomy - series

Reviewed last on: 6/4/2011
David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Assistant Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

References

Chou R, Loeser JD, Owens DK, Rosenquist RW, et al; American Pain Society Low Back Pain Guideline Panel. Interventional therapies, surgery, and interdisciplinary rehabilitation for low back pain: an evidence-based clinical practice guideline from the American Pain Society. Spine. 2009;34(10):1066-77.

Chou R, Qaseem A, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of low back pain: a joint clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society. Ann Intern Med. 2007;147(7):478-491.

Gregory DS, Seto CK, Wortley GC, Shugart CM. Acute lumbar disk pain: navigating evaluation and treatment choices. Am Fam Physician. 2008;78(7):835-842.

Williams KD, Park AL. Lower back pain and disorders of intervertebral discs. In: Canale ST, Beatty JH, eds. Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2007:chap 39.

Jegede KA, Ndu A, Grauer JN. Contemporary management of symptomatic lumbar disc herniations. Orthop Clin North Am. 2010 Apr;41(2):217-24.

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