Surgery is usually the last resort in the treatm

Surgery is usually the last resort in the treatment of back pain. It is normally recommended only if all other treatment options have been tried or if the situation is an emergency. A 2009 systematic review of back surgery studies found that, for certain diagnoses, surgery is moderately better than other common treatments, but the benefits of surgery often decline in the long term. ^[39]

There are different types of surgical procedures that are used in treating various conditions causing back pain. All of them can be classified into nerve decompression, fusion of body segments and deformity correction surgeries. The first type of surgery is primarily performed in older patients who suffer from conditions causing nerve irritation or  nerve damage . Fusion of bony segments is also referred to as a  spinal fusion , and it is a procedure used to fuse together two or more bony fragments with the help of metalwork. The latter type of surgery is normally performed to correct congenital deformities or those that were caused by a traumatic fracture. In some cases, correction of deformities involves removing bony fragments or providing stability provision for the spine.

The main procedures used in back pain surgery are discetomies, spinal fusions, laminectomies, removal of  tumors , and vertebroplasties.

A discetomy is performed when the intervertebral disc have herniated or torn. It involves removing the protruding disc, either a portion of it or all of it, that is placing  pressure on the  nerve root . ^[40] The disc material which is putting pressure on the nerve is removed through a small incision that is made over that particular disc. This is one of the most popular types of back surgeries and which also has a high rate of success. The  recovery period after this procedure does not last longer than 6 weeks. The type of procedure in which the bony fragments are removed through an  endoscope is called percutaneous disc removal.

Microdiscetomies may be performed as a variation of standard discetomies in which a  magnifier is used to provide the advantage of a smaller incision, thus a shorter recovery process.

Spinal fusions are performed in cases in which the patient has had the entire disc removed or when another condition has caused the vertebrae to become unstable. The procedure consists in uniting two or more vertebrae by using bone grafts and metalwork to provide more strength for the healing bone. Recovery after spinal fusion may take up to one year, depending greatly on the age of the patient, the reason why surgery has been performed and how many bony segments needed to be fused.

In cases of spinal stenosis or disc herniation, laminectomies can be performed to relieve the pressure on the nerves. During such a procedure, the surgeon enlarges the spinal canal by removing or trimming away the  lamina which will provide more space for the nerves. The severity of the condition as well as the general health status of the patient are key factors in establishing the recovery time, which may be range from 8 weeks to 6 months.

Back surgery can be performed to prevent the growth of benign and malignant tumors. In the first case, surgery has the goal of relieving the pressure from the nerves which is caused by a benign growth, whereas in the latter the procedure is aimed to prevent the spread of cancer to other areas of the body. Recovery depends on the type of tumor that is being removed, the health status of the patient and the size of the tumor.