Failed back surgery syndrome or simply known as failed back syndrome (FBSS) is not really a syndrome but it is a generalized term most used to illustrate conditions of individuals who have failed or have unsuccessful back or spine surgery thus have continued suffering from pain even after surgery. There might be a lot of reasons why surgery failed and this can happen even with the best attending surgeon. The success rate of back surgery is not very high.
What are the possible reasons for FBSS and continued pain after surgery?
One important thing to note is that back or spine surgery can only do two things and that is decompress a pinched nerve root and alleviate a painful joint. Thus back surgery cannot really eliminate pain for good, it can only change the injury which might be the reason of back pain. So far the leading reason why back surgeries failed and several patients still experience pain even after operation is because the injury that was operated is in fact not the cause of the patient’s pain.
What are other causes of FBSS and continued pain after surgery?
Other causes of FBSS and continued pain after surgery are the following.
Lumbar back surgery decompression factors. This may include inadequate decompression of the nerve root, nerve damage that happens during the surgery, preoperative nerve injury that does not cure after decompressive surgery and recurrent disc herniation or spinals enosis.
Fusion surgery factors. This may include the failure to fuse or implant failure or another injury after a spine fusion.
Scar tissue factor. Might be epidural fibrosis. It is the development of scar tissue surrounding the nerve root.
Postoperative Aftercare. Continued pain because of other causes.
There are some types or kinds of surgery that are quite predictable when it comes to relieving the patients symptoms or pains thus it is vital that you stick with the type of operation that has a high success rate. To make sure, discuss it with your doctor so that the right injury is identified before the surgery.