Living with ongoing back pain, neck pain or feeling numb or weak in your arms or legs can be frustrating and make it hard to do the things you enjoy. These problems are often caused by pressure on your spinal cord or nearby nerves. This pressure, called nerve compression or stenosis, can happen because of things like thickened ligaments, bone spurs or bulging discs.
A laminectomy is a type of surgery that can take the pressure off your spine and help with these symptoms. Doctors may suggest this surgery if other treatments like physical therapy, medicine or shots haven’t worked. If you need a laminectomy, the experts at Summit Orthopedics in Minneapolis/St. Paul can help.
What Is Laminectomy?
Laminectomy is a surgery where your doctor removes bone from certain parts of your spine to relieve pressure on nerves.
Your spine is made up of circular bones called vertebrae that are stacked on top of each other. They help protect your spinal cord and nerves, which are important for moving your body. Sometimes, things like extra bone growth, a slipped disc or thick tissue can fill up space around your spinal cord. When this happens, it can squeeze or pinch the spinal cord or nerves. This squeezing is called compression.
Each vertebra has a bony part on the back, called a lamina, that makes a roof over your spinal canal. The spinal cord and nerves are inside this canal.
During a laminectomy, your doctor takes out some or all of the lamina bone from the back of the vertebra. This gives more space and helps relieve the pressure on the spinal cord or nerves. Because it relieves pressure, the procedure is often called decompression laminectomy.
Reasons for a Laminectomy
One reason doctors may recommend a laminectomy is for a condition called spinal stenosis. This means the spinal canal has narrowed, often due to age-related wear and tear, thickened ligaments or bone growths. This narrowing puts pressure on the nerves or spinal cord.
Your doctor may recommend a laminectomy if you have:
- Difficulty walking or standing for long periods
- Loss of bowel or bladder control
- Numbness, tingling or weakness in the legs or arms.
- Pain in your back or neck that radiates into your buttocks, legs or arms
Before suggesting surgery, your doctor will typically confirm the source of pressure using imaging tests like MRI or CT scans. They will also ensure you’ve tried nonsurgical treatments first.
Types of Laminectomy
There are three types of laminectomies, depending on the location of the surgery.
Cervical Laminectomy
Surgeons perform cervical laminectomy in the neck. This often treats cervical stenosis, a condition that can cause arm pain, weakness and balance problems.
Thoracic Laminectomy
A thoracic laminectomy is performed on the middle of the back. It can be performed to treat spinal stenosis or herniated discs.
Lumbar Laminectomy
Surgeons perform lumbar laminectomy on the lower spine. It’s commonly used to treat lumbar spinal stenosis, relieving leg pain, numbness and weakness caused by compressed nerves in that area.
Laminectomy and Fusion
In some cases, removing bone during a laminectomy makes the spine unstable. An unstable spine can lead to too much movement between the vertebrae and cause muscle spasms and pain. To prevent instability, your surgeon may also perform a spinal fusion during the same operation.
During a laminectomy and fusion, your spine surgeon removes part of the lamina to take pressure off your spine and then fuses (joins) it with a vertebra above or below to keep the bones from moving too much. When joining two or more bones, they use special materials like bone grafts, screws, rods or plates to keep the spine stable.
This combined surgery is more complicated and usually takes longer to recover from than a regular laminectomy. Your surgeon will decide if fusion is needed based on your condition and symptoms.
What Happens During Laminectomy Surgery?
Laminectomy is a major surgery. You’ll be under general anesthesia, meaning you’ll be asleep and feel no pain.
- First, your surgeon makes an incision in the skin over the affected part of the spine.
- They carefully move the muscles attached to the spine to the side to expose the bony arch (lamina).
- Using special tools, your surgeon takes out part of the lamina bone. Any other tissues that are pressing on the nerves or spinal cord are also removed.
- If fusion is needed, the surgeon gets the bone surfaces ready and then adds bone grafts and hardware to keep the area stable.
- After surgery, your doctor closes the incision with stitches or staples.
Laminectomy Recovery
Your recovery depends on various factors, including how your surgery went and your overall health. Many people have this surgery in the surgery center. Some may go to the hospital due to their medical problems or age. If your surgery is in the hospital, you will likely stay one or two nights. Before going home, your care team will provide you with a personalized recovery plan. It’s important that you closely follow any instructions. This can help with a quicker and safer recovery.
Managing Pain
It’s normal to feel pain after laminectomy decompression. Tell your doctor about any pain that lasts months after surgery.
Rest and Resuming Activity
Getting back to light activities may take several weeks. Full recovery, where you return to more strenuous activities, can take up to six months or longer. Your doctor will let you know when you can return to work and resume specific activities, like sports.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is an important part of recovery. It helps you regain flexibility and strength in your neck. A physical therapist will help you with exercises that make your back or neck muscles stronger, improve how flexible you are and help you get back to your regular activities.
Get Started With Laminectomy
Most people who have a laminectomy say they feel better and can walk more easily. If pain, weakness and trouble moving are making it hard to live your life, a laminectomy may be a good choice for you.
Summit Orthopedics surgeons are available at nearly 30 convenient locations across the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Our state-of-the-art, comprehensive orthopedic centers offer same-day appointments from a team of experts who offer the full scope of orthopedic care.
Find your Summit Orthopedics spine expert, request an appointment or call us at (651) 968-5201 to schedule a consultation.
