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Laminectomy - Risks

Alternative Names

Lumbar decompression; Decompressive laminectomy; Spine surgery - laminectomy

Risks:

Risks for any surgery are:

Risks for spine surgery are:

  • Infection in wound or vertebral bones
  • Damage to a spinal nerve, causing weakness, pain, or loss of feeling
  • Partial or no relief of pain after surgery
  • A return of back pain in the future

If you have spinal fusion, your spinal column above and below the fusion is more likely to give you problems in the future.

  • Reviewed last on: 12/20/2010
  • C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Assistant Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Curlee PM. Other disorders of the spine. In: Canale ST, Beatty JH, eds. Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2007:chap 41.

Weinstein JN, Tosteson TD, Lurie JD, et al. Surgical versus nonsurgical therapy for lumbar spinal stenosis. N Engl J Med. 2008;358:794-810.

Weinstein JN, Tosteson TD, Lurie JD, et al. Surgical versus nonoperative treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis four-year results of the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2010 Jun 15;35(14):1329-38.

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