There are many people who suffer from back pain, but there are many cases where they are wondering whether to have surgery or not. Back surgery always comes with risks. What should I do in this case? There is no right answer unless it is an emergency. Here are some tips to help you make a decision.
How do I decide whether to have back surgery or not?
Most cases of back pain do not require surgery right away, unless it is an emergency, such as an infection of the spine, a tumor, or an accident that causes serious damage to the spine or spinal cord. If it is not an emergency, the patient should decide whether to have surgery.
There is no right answer as to when is the best time to have surgery. is to decide for yourself. It should be ‘selective’ in the sense that the doctor and patient decide on the operation in consultation. Many factors influence the decision to have surgery, but the focus should be on whether back pain will be reduced following surgery. Because surgery does not always improve the condition.
In fact, there are many cases of no change in pain following surgery in patients with back pain and back neck pain. Surgery may be helpful when symptoms are caused by compression of the spinal nerve root.
All back surgeries have some degree of risk. Inflammation of the incision site, bleeding caused by damage to large blood vessels passing in front of the disc, heart failure, blood clots in the lungs or legs, pneumonia, and, in rare cases, loss of consciousness.
For this reason, it is important to have surgery done by an orthopedic surgeon or neurosurgeon with sufficient experience in surgery. The physician should consider the patient’s condition and answer questions, and the patient should ask the physician’s experience.
– 3 things to consider before surgery from the patient’s point of view
(Before back surgery, check whether the following criteria are met.)
1. Has the pain persisted or worsened despite active and adequate treatment for at least 6 weeks?
2. Can the cause of pain be recovered by surgery? Since most spinal surgeries are to reduce the compression of the nerve root, it is important whether the pain is caused by the compression of the nerve root.
3. It should be confirmed that the compressing nerve root is an abnormality that can be corrected surgically through reliable techniques such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
4. If there are no obvious signs of spinal nerve root compression, the pain may be due to another cause.
-Things to remember when consulting for back surgery
1. Do you understand everything regarding back pain? Do you know regarding treatment methods and treatment outcomes, including up-to-date information regarding your condition?
2. Have you been told to understand the risks and benefits of back surgery? What are your thoughts on possible dangers? Lifestyle, age, and other medical conditions should be considered.
3. Are you aware of the risks of surgery and non-surgical treatment for back pain?
4. Are you aware that surgery cannot always control your back pain? Occasionally, surgery is not curable and the success rate of reoperation may be lower than that of the first operation.
5. You need to think regarding what kind of condition you want following surgery and how much risk you can take.
Reporter Jeong Hee-eun [email protected]
ⓒ ‘Honest knowledge for health’ Comedy.com (https://kormedi.com) / Unauthorized reproduction-redistribution prohibited
