Failed back surgery syndrome, or FBSS, is not actually a syndrome but rather a misnomer. Failed back surgery syndrome is actually a rather generalized term used to describe a condition patients experience who have not experienced successful spine or back surgery. You will know you have failed back surgery syndrome, or FBSS, if you experience continued pain after your surgery. Unfortunately there is no predictive successful result when it comes to spine and back surgery, leaving both doctor and patient without answers when FBSS occurs.
Conventional FBSS treatments
There are several conventional treatments used to control chronic pain when FBSS occurs, some of which include steroid injections into trigger points or facet joints of the spinal area around the nerve roots however, these normally produce short-term effects. Doctors can also induce scarring in the area to try and stabilize the spine by using anti-epileptic drugs and opiates.
There is also cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, which is a form of talk therapy. This type of therapy helps patients identify their pain and develop the skills necessary to change their negative thoughts and behaviours into positive ones. Individuals involved in CBT believe that patients create their own experiences, including pain, and that by changing their behaviours and thought patterns related to pain, patients can develop or improve coping strategies by addressing what fuels their physical pain by recognizing it.
Doctors who recommend CBT also believe that since pain causes stress, this increased level of stress will have an effect on the level of pain control chemicals, such as serotonin and norepinephrine, in the brain. By inducing CBT, patients can encourage the body’s natural pain relief more influential. CBT is often used to treat conditions such as:
- OCD
- Depression
- Anxiety and panic disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Drug or alcohol abuse
- Eating disorders
- Anger
- Sleep problems
- Chronic pain
Although CBT is often used in conjunction with medication or other therapies, it is not without limitations. Cognitive behavioural therapy is not helpful for all conditions and does not suit all patients due to its intense mind-over-matter challenges.
Conventional surgical options rely upon various forms of intervertebral scaffolded fusion or Chronic Pain Management and repeated injections
About Transforaminal Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression & Foraminoplasty
There are alternative treatment options for patients who suffer failed back surgery syndrome, one of which is a new method of Transforaminal Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression & Foraminoplasty. This minimally invasive procedure is used to successfully treat herniated discs, postoperative scarring, post-operative instability, post-operative stenosis (narrowing), post-operative bone spur formation (osteophytosis).
While the patient is positioned in a prone or lateral position, they are placed under local anaesthetic while the surgeon removes the herniated portions of the disc. This damaged disc tissue is removed through an access tube that is no larger than a few millimetres. This tube is inserted into the intervertebral foramen and then, with special instruments, the surgeon gently accesses the disc without interfering with the surrounding conjunctive tissue or muscles. This reduces the risk of bleeding, post-operative pain, infection and nerve injury and leaves patients with a shorter recovery period and immediate pain relief.
This extremely non-invasive method of surgery has proven suitable for prolapsed discs and other indications such as Cauda Equina Syndrome. For additional information on failed back surgery syndrome and the procedure of Transforaminal Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression & Foraminoplasty, contact The Spinal Foundation in London.
