Scar tissue forming near the nerve root is called epidural fibrosis. This epidural fibrosis is a common occurrence after back surgery has been preformed. The formation of scar tissue is part of a normal healing process the body goes through after spine surgery. Unfortunately the build-up of this scar tissue can cause nerve impingements causing back pain and/or leg pain. There are successful procedures performed by surgeons called a Laminotomy.
A nerve that is under pressure and causing pain or impaired function is referred to as a pinched nerve. This can happen to nerves that control muscle movements or relay sensations to the brain.
The initial symptoms will affect your buttocks and legs, arms, fingers, neck or shoulders. These symptoms may be tingling, numbness, a burning sensation or shooting pains.
The pains and sensations can sometimes be felt quite a distance away from the point of pressure. Although you have a pinched nerve the lumbar region of your back, it’s possible that the only painful symptom that this may be causing could be in your calf. Pain and weakness may increase when there is nerve damage from constant pressure. Movement skills, reflexes, sensations in the affect area may be affected and muscular atrophy may begin to occur.
Nerves are extensions from the brain that reach out into the arms or legs to go to the muscles or skin. A nerve is a cell that is microscopic in size, and its fibers may run several feet in length toward its destination. A nerve cell that lives in the brain or within the spinal cord is called a central nerve, and a nerve that leaves the spine to go into the arms or legs are called peripheral nerves. These peripheral nerves are actually bundles of millions of nerve fibers that leave the spinal cord and branch to their target muscles to make them move or go to the skin to provide feeling.
If a nerve gets "pinched" the flow up and down the inside of the hose is reduced or blocked and the nutrients stop flowing. Eventually the membrane starts to lose its healthy ability to transmit the tiny electrical charges and the nerve fiber may eventually die. When enough fibers stop working, the skin may feel numbness or a muscle may not contract.
Minimally invasive laser spine surgery uses an arthroscopic approach to a Laminotomy opening the spinal canal without any need for general anesthesia. A laminotomy is generally performed in a surgical outpatient setting. A laminotomy is not a laminectomy.
Laminotomy: A laminotomy the surgical procedure used to relieve the spinal canal off pressure affecting the exiting nerve root and spinal cord. The process increases the amount of space available for neural tissue thus releasing the nerve(s).
The term laminotomy is derived from the Latin words lamina (bony plate that covers the posterior arch of the vertebra) and -otomy (act of cutting, incision).
A Laminotomy of the Spine may be used to treat the following conditions:
• Bone Spurs
• Pinched Nerve
• Spinal Stenosis
• Herniated Disc
• Bulging Disc
• Scar Tissue Formation
• Arthritis of the Spine
Minimally invasive procedure for scar tissue removal. Do you want more information about scar tissue in your back?