Decompression Surgery
When Pain Persists After Surgery
Sometimes pain remains or new pain develops after surgery.
This is called failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), and it is more common than you might think. It does not mean the surgery "failed" — it means that the source of pain extends beyond the structural compression that surgery addressed.
Why Pain May Persist
| Cause | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Problems at other levels | Stenosis at levels not addressed by surgery |
| Incomplete decompression | Not all pressure was fully relieved |
| Scar tissue | Post-surgical scarring may compress nerves |
| Chronic pain sensitization | The nervous system has become hypersensitive to pain |
Your Options If Pain Continues
- Continue conservative treatment — Medications, rehabilitation, nerve block injections
- Reoperation — May be effective depending on the cause
- Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) — Effective for chronic pain
SCS is particularly effective for pain that persists after surgery. Even patients who did not improve with surgery may find relief with SCS.
Learn about spinal cord stimulation (SCS)
- Lumbar spinal stenosis is a condition where the nerve passageway inside your spine gradually narrows with age
- Decompression surgery is essentially widening that passageway to relieve pressure on your nerves
- It won't restore your body to how it was in your youth, but the goal is to reduce your pain and numbness so you can keep walking and living independently
- Surgery does carry risks, but what matters most is weighing the "difficulty of continuing as things are" against the "possibility of improvement through surgery" — and making that decision together with your family and medical team