Surgery for Back Pain

If back pain continues after six months of nonsurgical treatment, NYU Langone doctors may recommend surgery. At NYU Langone, your surgical team may include orthopedic surgeons or neurosurgeons with special training in treating back problems.

You may need surgery to treat back pain if treatments such as medication, physical therapy, or steroid injections do not provide relief, or if you have a structural problems of the spine, such as a herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, or spinal stenosis.

For example, if a vertebra slips out of place and constricts the spinal canal, causing back pain or pinching a nerve—a condition called spondylolisthesis—surgeons may perform a procedure called a spinal fusion to relieve chronic back pain. This procedure corrects spinal misalignment and removes any bone spurs, ligaments, or disc material that may be putting pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots inside the spinal canal. It alleviates pain by creating space in the spinal canal and decompressing the nerve roots or the spinal cord.

Spinal fusion involves permanently joining the problematic vertebrae together using screws, rods, or a small piece of bone called a bone graft. These remain in your spine and act like an internal brace to keep the bones in the correct position. If a bone graft is used, it is taken from your own body, typically from the hip, or from a donor through a bone bank. It’s placed either directly alongside the spine, between the vertebrae to be fused, or inside a small metal cage that’s placed between vertebrae, which can give it extra stability.

Over time, the joined vertebrae heal, fusing into one bone mass that provides the spine the stability it needs to support the body.

What to Expect After Spinal Surgery