We have all seen patients who don’t do as well as they should or don’t fully recover from their symptoms following surgery. Patients may feel dissatisfied, and the doctor-patient relationship may become strained. In general, any patient would expect to return to their normal life following any surgery, including minimally invasive spine surgery.
This could be due to a variety of factors. These are primarily due to a lack of understanding of the nature of spine diseases and inadequate preoperative counseling. Often, what the patient expects may or may not be near to reality, necessitating counseling during the preoperative consultation.
On the other hand, the recovery from spine surgery depends on several factors, including your overall health, the severity of your illness, the severity of your symptoms before surgery, and the type of surgery used to treat your problem.
At Dr. Rao’s Hospital, well-trained and seasoned neurosurgeons collaborate to ensure that patients receive the care they need, whether urgent care, minimally invasive spine surgery, advanced diagnostics, treatment, or rehabilitative services. Hence, we are considered one of the best neurology hospitals in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
Dr. Mohana Rao, the founder of the hospital, is a highly qualified and skilled neurosurgeon in Andhra Pradesh. He has years of expertise performing minimally invasive spine procedures to cure a broad spectrum of spinal issues successfully.
Moreover, Dr. Mohana Rao may advise decompression, microdiscectomy, and spinal fusion when patients suffer from back discomfort and sciatica caused by intervertebral disc issues.
Spinal fusion is a surgical treatment that uses rods and screws to fuse the discs. It takes a few months for the patient to recuperate and resume their previous lifestyle fully. The majority of this is predicated on pre-existing damage and the severity of the symptoms.
Many patients are terrified of minimally invasive spine surgery due to media-driven false news, and they wait until it is too late. They are convinced that the procedure will be harmful to them. Because the recovery has been slow, they believe their position has been justified, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. They may not do well when they ultimately have surgery due to an emergency.
Implants can irritate the tissues around them, causing pain following surgery. Furthermore, discomfort can be caused by scar tissue that is healing and muscle spasms caused by spinal misalignment. These complications are uncommon and impact only a small percentage of people following minimally invasive spine surgery.
It’s reasonable to be disappointed due to the appearance of a complication. Unfortunately, all operation carries the potential of complications. Thus, this slight risk must be understood before the patient undergoes any procedure in any specialty. Therefore, Dr. Mohana Rao, one of the best neurosurgeons in Guntur, discusses the risk vs. benefit ratio with each patient and their attendants before any surgery.
Back disorders can have a variety of origins, and modern medicine is still striving to figure out what causes many of them. People usually expect symptoms like neck pain/back pain, numbing sensation, loss of sensation, limb weakness, and loss of control over the bladder and bowel caused by nerve compression to disappear after treatment involves repairing nerves and following nerve decompression. The process of recovery does not occur overnight. Damaged nerves need a long time to restore their functions.
The speed with which you recover following nerve decompression is mainly determined by the extent of nerve damage you had before the treatment. It is difficult for the patient to recover from permanent injury. Surgery delays play a crucial part in this. On the other hand, nerve damage can usually be reversed, and even severe patients can expect a slow recovery that takes weeks to months after surgery.
Factors that may delay recovery
If your overall health is good, you may be able to recover more quickly and successfully. According to several studies, the following conditions may reduce the success of back surgery:
- Poor psychosocial well-being
- Pre-existing depression in the patient
- Smoking and alcohol consumption
- Overweight/Obesity
- Patient’s age
- Other underlying medical condition
Factors in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
If the surgical approach does not address the patient’s ailment correctly, the patient may not recover. Furthermore, if any difficulties or errors occur during the process, the surgery is more likely to fail.
Post-operative Factors
Patients who have the following symptoms shortly after back surgery may not be able to recover:
- Subdural or epidural hematoma
- Spinal column infection
- Fluid collection surrounding the surgical region in the spine
- Nerve damage
If a patient develops transition syndrome and fails to recover following surgery, the efficiency of surgery may be harmed.
As previously stated, a variety of factors have an impact on your recovery from minimally invasive spine surgery. The type of surgery, the ailment being treated, the surgeon’s experience, the post-operative rehabilitation plan, and many other factors influence the outcome. If you have undergone minimally invasive spine surgery and aren’t recovering as planned, consult Dr. Mohana Rao, one of the leading spine surgeons in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, to figure out the problem. He will explain the situation and assist you in dealing with it. If necessary, revision surgery may be offered depending on the condition and situation.