Pain in the back and waist may seem normal to you. But have you ever thought that the pain you feel is actually back pain? Actually, almost everyone has experienced spinal pain, especially low back pain. So, have you ever imagined that some people with spinal pain actually need more specific examinations, even if an operation is needed.
Is back pain dangerous?
Spinal pain is often associated with abnormalities in the spinal cord. Meanwhile, problems with the spinal cord itself are quite diverse and usually occur due to various reasons, including pinched nerves, tumors, infections, and even accidents that cause injury to the spinal cord.
Degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis can also cause problems in the spinal cord. Brain and spinal cord tissue Brain and spinal cord and peripheral nerves are actually a unit that cannot be separated and cannot be compared with even a superconducting computer. Even though the brain tissue is normal, the limbs and other limbs will not be able to function properly if a person's spinal cord or peripheral nerves are damaged.
If damage to the brain tissue can cause paralysis, impaired sensibility, vision or other disturbances, then damage to the spinal cord can cause paralysis of the limbs, difficulty defecating or urinating or being unable to hold urine or defecation, depending on the location of the damage. in the spinal cord itself.
Did you know that disorders of the spinal cord are not inferior to abnormalities in the brain, such as nerves pinched by a rupture of the spinal discs both in the neck and in the lumbar region. This is the most cases, in addition to tumors, infections and disorders of blood vessels. Likewise if the peripheral nerves are disturbed. Various disturbances ranging from tingling, radiating pain to cause paralysis such as paralysis of the brachial plexus, ischiadicus and so on will be felt by sufferers.
How to deal with back pain?
So far there are at least two types of treatment that can be used to treat spinal pain, namely:
- Microsurgery and Endoscopic surgery
Abnormalities of the spinal cord, especially pinched nerves due to ruptured bony discs or canal stenosis due to the aging process, can be performed operatively using either microsurgery or endoscopic surgery, where recently endoscopic surgery techniques have been developed. This technique began to be developed by Destandau in 1993 from Bordeaux, France and now its use and technique are growing. The advantages of endoscopic surgery and microsurgery for surgery on the spine are: the wound is only 1.5 - 2 cm, the injury to the surrounding tissue is minimal, the hospital stay is only one day or even go straight home after surgery done right away. This technique can already be done at the EMC hospital. - Navigation and Intraoperative monitoring minimize complications
For various cases of surgery both on the brain and on the spinal cord, other sophisticated supporting equipment is also needed such as CUSA (tumor destroyer), NAVIGATOR (direction control), IOM (intraoperative monitoring) and so on. All these state-of-the-art tools are of course available solely for the health of the patient. You certainly can't imagine having to perform an operation with minimal equipment that could result in some healthy nerve tissue being damaged, right?
The development of neurosurgical techniques, especially in the spinal cord accompanied by sophisticated equipment, of course has many positive impacts because it provides a minimally invasive effect. What is meant by minimally invasive is that the surgical wound is getting smaller, the tissue damage is minimal so that the doctors take more abnormalities than damage the surrounding tissue. That way the patient no longer needs to stay in the hospital for a long time, the cost of treatment can be reduced, the possibility of complications what happens is also smaller, the healing process becomes faster and of course the patient can return to his activities more quickly.
During the operation, a neurosurgeon will be assisted by a neurophysiologist who operates the IOM (intraoperative monitoring) so that possible complications do not occur and important nerves are protected. The point is through this tool when normal nerves are touched, he will give a code. Coupled with the existence of Navigation which functions as a direction controller so that when installing the tool you don't get lost and damage your nerves. Based on this, the doctor will only remove damaged tissue without damaging healthy nerves/tissues, so that complications that may arise can be minimized.
That's the examination and treatment that can be done to overcome the pain that is present in the spine. It's a good idea to immediately check yourself and those you care about with a Neurosurgeon Specialist when experiencing severe and bothersome spinal pain to get the right diagnosis and treatment.
This article was written by Dr. dr. Alfred Sutrisno Sim, Sp.BS (K), FINSS, FINPS, FAPCSS (Neurosurgery Specialist at EMC Alam Sutera Hospital).