2.4 million Americans suffer from chronic back pain according to the center for disease control. The costs incurred to treat back pain are approximately $75 billion either directly or indirectly. Back pain is common next to flue in America debilitating and results in loss of work and income.
An individual suffering from chronic back pain has to deal not only with emotional but also physical stress. The pain can last for a lifetime, if surgical intervention is recommended by trained physicians. Pain killers, analgesics, and steroidal applications are just act as a band aid to the a chronic condition. Laser laminectomy is the latest and advanced procedure performed to reduce chronic back pain in patients. Laminectomy is a procedure which is performed on the vertebra which results in the partial or complete removal of the lamina. The wing like part of the vertebra is the lamina. Vertebrae is another name for back bone. The spinal cord traverses through the vertebra.
Patients suffering from severe back pain usually have a condition called spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is a medical condition, where the spinal cord nerves are affected resulting in compression of the nerves. The common cause for spinal stenosis is injury, aging or a tumor. Surgical laminectomy was pioneered by Victor Alexander Haden Horsley in 1887. Laminectomy attempts to remove or partially shape the spinal disc to treat conditions like herniated disc.
Symptoms that are commonly observed in patients are chronic low back pain which further leads to the feeling of anguish and immobility. Current medical methods of treating the low lumbar back pain by herniated discs is either by surgery or administering of pain killers. In order to prevent suffering and emotional stress an invasive procedure is recommended. This procedure is done under general anesthesia. The patient is first admitted to a hospital and anesthesia is administered later a small incision is made.
An alternate procedure to treat herniated discs and spinal stenosis is by Laser laminectomy. Herniated disc is also commonly referred to as “Slipped disc”. Herniation of the disc occurs when inter vertebral disc bulges out and directly affects the nerves around the spine. This results in pain on the left and right side of the low back. The goal of surgical laminectomy is to remove the pressure on the nerves surrounding the spinal cord; this will relieve pain and allow for physical reduction of the protruding lamina. The patients who undergo laminectomy have a long recovery phase after surgery. This may involve pain medication, physical therapy and exercise.
Novel and minimally invasive laser laminectomy is a great approach towards treating patients suffering from back pain. Back pain is an ancient condition and can be traced back to ancient Egyptians and Greek times.
Laser laminectomy involves using a laser to remove part of the nerve or lamina to alleviate the back pain. Houston laser laminectomy can attempt this procedure for herniated discs which in minimally invasive. A slang used in medical terminology is less invasive without undergoing the complications of anesthesia. In a surgical laminectomy the patient is put to sleep and the procedure performed under anesthesia. Surgical laminectomy is invasive and expensive, has risks for recurring back pain which may also affect the neck.
The three C’s that plague the American workforce in regards to treatment for back pain is that is it costly, chronic and complicated. American geriatric population is also affected by chronic back pain and consideration should be given to potential treatments such as laser laminectomy.