Back Pain After Surgery

If post-surgical pain continues after the surgeons defined time or if your pain is continuing to after three months (12 weeks) following surgery you may have failed back syndrome.

What symptoms may indicate your spine surgery is “failed : and you may now have failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), also known failed back surgery (FBS) and also known as  post-laminectomy syndrome.

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• Chronic pain Sustained, significant pain that lasts for more than 12 weeks, after surgery.
   

• New localized pain may be dull or sharp. This is the type of pain patients may experience immediately after surgery or after months to years after surgery. The most common place we see for this pain is around the buttock and sacroiliac joint.  It is often misdiagnosed as SI joint syndrome after a fusion or laminectomy surgery.
   

• Neuropathic Pain is nerve-related pain is caused by damage to the nerves or spinal cord. During spine surgery retractors are used to keep tissue out of the surgical field so the surgeon can see the work area.  This places traction on the nerves and can cause neuropathic pain.  Examples of this type of pain include numbness, burning, tingling, weakness, and other abnormal sensations.
   

• Radicular pain (radiculopathy): Radicular pain radiates from one area to another (eg, from the low back down the buttocks, legs, and feet, such as sciatica).
   

• Original symptoms return When the symptoms surgery intended to correct come back or just never improve after surgery, it may indicate failed back surgery.