The Most Common Causes of Pain After Back Surgery and What Can Be Done About It

Back surgery is often used to address persistent back pain. However, not all back surgeries are successful in freeing people from chronic back pain problems.

At Pain Management Associates LLC of Greenbelt, Maryland, our team is here to help if your pain persists after recovery following back surgery. We understand the reasons why back surgery can fail, and can suggest effective pathways forward after reviewing the unique details of your case.

Here are some of the most common causes for pain after back surgery, as well as information about treatment options available to you through our experienced providers.

When your procedure wasn’t right

If you continue to experience back pain after back surgery, there’s plenty of reason to think that the original procedure might not have been the right course of action.

It’s possible that your surgeon didn’t perform your procedure correctly. However, it’s also common to realize after surgery that the procedure you had wasn’t the right one for your back and spinal care needs, or that other problematic elements remain that still need to be addressed after your initial procedure.

Your provider at Pain Management Associates LLC reviews the details of your past symptoms and surgeries. If you need a different diagnosis, or a different treatment approach to address the problem, we can help you refocus your back pain relief efforts for real results. We use state-of-the-art imaging technology to assist with your re-diagnosis and new treatment plan.

Post-surgery spinal issues

Your spine is a complex structure that runs the entire length of your back, and contains many sensitive nerves as well. Many pain problems after back surgery relate to spinal issues. That’s particularly the case if you have spinal fusion surgery, used as a treatment for many back pain conditions.

Spinal positioning problems

After spinal fusion surgery, positioning needs to be perfect. Malposition of spinal instrumentation can be a pain-causing problem, as can adverse reactions to instrumentation resulting in pseudoarthrosis.

Post-surgery SI joint pain

You may experience post-surgery pain in your sacroiliac (SI) joints. SI joint pain appears in as much of 40% of post-spinal fusion pain cases. SI joint pain is identified and isolated using targeted injections. Your skilled doctor treats the problem with physical therapy, pain relief injections, or, in severe cases, a secondary surgical procedure.

Recurring issues

Unfortunately, some causes of back pain, like slipped or herniated discs, tend to recur. Even if you had surgical treatment for the problem once, it can become a cause of back pain for you again. Up to 15% of microdiscectomy patients with disc herniation problems experience recurrence.

Many patients who have had one or more back surgeries continue to have severe lower back and lower extremity pain. This pain is often so severe that it is not adequately controlled with pain medications alone. Our team at Pain Management Associates perform various nerve blocks to reduce the pain. If the nerve blocks are not enough to control the pain we employ a technique called Spinal Cord Stimulation otherwise known as neuromodulation.

For the care you need to identify and address back pain after failed back surgery, get in touch with the team at Pain Management Associates LLC today. Schedule your initial consultation appointment with our pain management specialists online or over the phone now.