title: Failed back surgery syndrome: problems, pitfalls and prevention.
abstract: Several basic and fundamental principles remain prime considerations in lumbar spine surgery, so a review of these is appropriate in view of the current headlong rush into the use of new and developing technology for lumbar spine surgery. Eighteen hundred and sixty-one laminectomy procedures are reviewed, the majority of these for simple lumbar disc protrusion and spinal canal stenosis but also 204 cases where patients required a surgical procedure for failed back surgery syndrome. Surgical technique and technology will fail when an inappropriate patient is selected for surgical intervention; failure also occurs particularly in lumbar disc protrusion if lateral recess stenosis is undiagnosed and untreated at the time of surgery. The patient's motivation status also has a significant effect on surgical outcome and the optimum patient to submit to surgery for failed back surgery syndrome has sciatica, more severe than backache, a recurrent or residual disc protrusion associated with the stenosis and excellent motivation which is not affected by workers' compensation or other insurance claims or benefit.
authors.affiliation: Neurosurgical Unit, Allamanda Private Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yaksich
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D007796:Laminectomy; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D012008:Recurrence; D012086:Reoperation; D013130:Spinal Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed