For victims of a slip and fall or car accident, back pain is a common problem. While physical therapy, pain medications, or even epidural injections help some people manage their pain, others find little relief from these treatments. Depending on the severity of your injury, back surgery could be the only option to relieve the debilitating pain, but it is not always successful, and there is a risk of complications.
Patients Could Face Problems After Back Surgery
There are a number of different types of back surgery. These surgeries include discectomy to remove the herniated portion of disk material, laminectomy to remove bone overlapping the spine to enlarge the spinal column, and fusion surgery to join two or more bones in the spine to create stability in the spine after a fracture. Many people experience relief after their surgery and do not have any problems. However, other people can experience complications, such as:
Anesthesia reaction.
A person can have a reaction to the drug used and experience nausea and vomiting, or anesthesia issues can lead to lung infections.
Bleeding.
If the surgery is performed through the abdominal cavity, there is a risk of unexpected bleeding.
Blood clots.
This is often a risk with surgery and frequently develops in the legs. If the blood clot travels through the veins to a lung, it could cut off the blood supply to the lung and cause the lung to collapse – a potentially life-threatening situation.
Infections.
An infection could occur where the incision took place, which usually is treated with antibiotics. In more serious cases, an infection can spread to the spinal cord and vertebrae and might require additional operations to drain the infection.
Spinal cord injury.
Because the surgery involves working on the spinal cord or the nerves surrounding it, there is a danger of damaging the spinal cord or these nerves. Injuries to the nerves can result in pain, numbness, or weakness in the area affected by the nerves, and a spinal cord injury could result in partial paralysis.
Persistent pain.
Sometimes the surgery is not successful in reducing the person’s pain. In some cases, the pain could get worse.
Have You Been Injured In A Henderson Or Las Vegas Accident?
If you’ve been injured in an accident you need to speak with an personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Contact us online or call our Henderson office directly at 702.405.6000 to schedule a free initial consultation.