Spine Surgery Risks and Potential Complications

Are you experiencing back or neck pain due to a spine disorder? Has a doctor recommended spine surgery? Before you make a decision, you must be aware of the risks associated with spine surgery and the potential complications that can arise during or after the operation.

3 General Categories of Risk Linked With Any Surgery

There are a variety of risks accompanying any kind of surgery, let alone spine surgery. The following 3 categories of risks are commonly associated with spine surgery.

Risks of Anaesthesia

Almost all spine surgeries necessitate general anaesthesia. Even though all types of anaesthesia have some risk involved in them, serious complications and side effects are usually not caused by anaesthesia. The risks also vary as per each individual’s health, the type of anaesthesia used, and the body’s response to it.

Generally speaking, the risks of anaesthesia may include:

• Sore throat
• Throat swelling
• Harsh voice
• Allergic reaction to medications
• Nausea and vomiting post-surgery
• Damage to the teeth/lips
• Changes in blood pressure
• Changes in heart rate or rhythm
• Complications from the breathing tube
• Seizures
• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Death – very low risk (1 out of 2 lakh patients)

Risks of Complications That Can Occur During the Surgery

During spine surgery, there are a few risks of complications that one needs to be aware of. However, it’s important to note that these risks rarely materialise.

Such risks include:

• Abnormal bleeding
• Dural tear and spinal fluid leak
• Injury to a nerve or spinal cord – low risk (1 out of 5 thousand patients)
• Injury to anatomical structures near the spine

Risks of Complications That Can Occur After the Surgery

There is a wide array of risks of complications that can occur post-spine surgery.

Following are some of the well-known risks:

• Persistent pain, numbness or weakness
• Dural tear and spinal fluid leak
• Infection in the wound
• Blood clots in the legs (DVT)
• Implant and fusion complications
• Medical complications leading to stroke, heart attack, pneumonia, or urinary infection

Potential Spine Surgery Complications

Let’s identify some of the potential spine surgery complications in detail.

Bleeding

A little bit of bleeding during spine surgery is quite normal. Surgeons follow various practices to reduce and control bleeding as much as possible. However, on rare occasions, major blood vessels can get damaged, causing continuous blood loss.

Dural Tear

A dural tear takes place when a part of the protective covering over the spinal cord gets torn, resulting in cerebrospinal fluid leaking out. In some cases, the surgeon is able to detect the tear during the operation and repair it straightaway. The majority of the dural tears heal on their own, but in rare instances, they may not heal and cause a spinal headache.

Fusion Fails

In case of surgery to join two vertebrae, the spinal fusion doesn’t heal as expected and such a condition is termed a ‘nonunion’. A nonunion generally implies that there is motion between the 2 bones that should have been fused together. This undesirable motion can cause pain that might grow in severity over time.

Blood Clots

Following any surgery, there is a risk of developing blood clots. In such cases, the clotting process may have begun during any tugging or pulling actions performed during surgery. The inability of blood to move may result in the clotting of blood causing issues such as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism.

Persistent Pain

Even after a successful surgery, pain may persist often accompanied by numbness or weakness. This is usually caused by nerve damage or the formation of scar tissue. The patient may not get rid of the pain or pain may worsen impacting the quality of their life.

Infection

Infection after spine surgery is relatively uncommon due to the preventive measures taken by surgeons/nurses in the form of antibiotics and sterile procedures to minimise the risk of infection.

Nevertheless, an infection might develop in the skin around the incision area and in rare circumstances, the infection may spread deep into the areas surrounding the spinal cord and vertebrae.

Nerve and Spinal Cord Damage

Modern-age surgical tools have decreased the risk of nerve and spinal cord damage in the form of bruises, cuts, etc. Having said that, the risk remains wherein some damage may occur and lead to pain, paralysis, sexual dysfunction, and other sensory and functional symptoms.

How is Non-surgical Spinal Decompression Better Than Surgery?

As the name suggests, the Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression is a 100% non-surgical treatment that is completely painless, requires no hospitalisation, medications, or injections, and has zero side effects!

Spinal Decompression is a US-based technology that helps treat various conditions of back, spine and neck pain in just a few weeks’ time. Moreover, it’s highly affordable, provides lifelong relief and has so far helped avoid 6500+ surgeries from India and abroad!!

Conclusion

Taking into account the wide range of risks and potential complications associated with spine surgery, it’s vital to consider alternative treatment methods that can provide relief without such risks.

The Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Treatment is one such treatment method that has proven to be highly successful, helping treat patients for spinal disorders across India, South Africa, Iran, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Tanzania, and Canada without any surgery at various ANSSI Wellness Centres.

Click here to book your appointment at your nearest ANSSI Wellness Centre: 9004726844

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