A laminectomy, also called spinal decompression, is an open surgical procedure. It involves removing a small portion of the lamina. The lamina is the small part of the vertebral bone over the area where the nerve is being pinched. It is removed to relieve pressure on spinal nerves. Along with bone, fragments of a ruptured disc also may be removed.

The surgeon makes an incision in the back, spreads the overlying muscles, and removes the lamina. After the bone is removed, the surgeon can see what is compressing the nerve and may remove the offending disc. The incision is closed with stitches or staples.

Spinal fusion is a procedure that joins two bones (vertebrae) in the spinal column together to eliminate pain caused by movement.

Most of the time when a patient has a laminectomy and disc removal, a spinal fusion is not done. If a spinal fusion is to be performed, the adjacent vertebral bones are joined together with bone collected from the patient or a bone donor bank. Additional internal devices, such as metal rods and pins, may be used to provide added stability. The actual fusing of the vertebral segments occurs as the body stimulates new bone growth between the vertebrae over the course of the healing period. This process may take three to six months or longer.

Diskectomy is the removal of the protruding disc and part of the backbone. The doctor makes an incision in the back. A small part of the bone is removed to obtain access to the disc. The disc is then removed to take pressure off the nerve.

In certain cases, the doctor can perform a microdiskectomy to remove a herniated disc. A microdiskectomy is a less invasive procedure. The doctor makes a smaller incision and uses a magnifying instrument to see the disc and nerves. It is not always possible to do a microdiskectomy.

Surgery is not always the better choice. People have been able to improve with nonoperative treatment options. Talk to your doctor about risks and benefits of surgery and other treatment options.

A relatively new procedure, total disc replacement, is now available as an alternative to fusion. It is chosen when the cause of the injury is a degenerated disc. In the procedure, an artificial disc is used to replace the damaged disc. In theory, it offers the ability to repair the damaged portion of the spine while still maintaining the mobility of the spine. However, this new procedure remains controversial. It may be appropriate for only a limited group of patients. Patients with multiple degenerating discs or those who have had multiple failed back surgeries may not be candidates for artificial disc replacement. There is also a device to replace only the nucleus pulposus. This is the soft inner part of the disc. The role of these new technologies is not yet established and long-term outcome data are lacking.

Nucleoplasty is one of the newer, less-invasive surgical procedures. This procedure typically uses radio waves to treat patients with low back pain caused by a contained or mildly-herniated disc. In nucleoplasty, the surgeon inserts a wand-like transmitter into the disc. The patient is awake, but lightly sedated. Guided by x-ray imaging, the surgeon sends radiofrequency pulses into the center of the disc. The radiofrequency energy heats and shrinks the gel-like tissue. This results in less volume and relieves pressure on the nerve. The entire procedure lasts about 30 minutes.