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Spine treatments
Pain management
Some spinal conditions may benefit from pain management treatment. These include facet joint syndrome, degeneration, and sciatica (pain that radiates down back into buttocks, down leg and into foot). Visit our pain mangement section earn more about pain management techniques.
Surgical treatments
Cervical and lumbar disc implants
The Hospital of Central Connecticut offers cervical and lumbar disc implants for people with severe pain from herniated discs or degenerative disc disease that doesn’t respond to less invasive measures. A disc implant is an alternative to spinal fusion and is intended to function like a normal joint.
An overnight stay at the hospital’s Joint and Spine Center is typical with a cervical disc implant and a two-day stay for a lumbar implant. Recovery, which typically includes physical therapy, is four to six weeks for a cervical implant; and six to eight weeks for a lumbar disc. HCC was the first in Central Connecticut and second in the state to implant an artificial cervical disc.
Discectomy
This procedure removes tiny amounts of a degenerative or herniated disc impacting the nerves and/or spine. It may be done on an outpatient basis or require a one-night hospital stay. Microdisectomy, a similar procedure, uses a small incision; patients often go home the same day after this surgery. Recovery from either procedure is four to six weeks and may include physical therapy.
Laminectomy
This common surgical procedure is done to remove pressure from the nerve to relieve pain, numbness or weakness. It typically requires an overnight stay; recovery averages six weeks and often includes physical therapy.
Spinal fusion
Removes the disc, replaces it with a bone graft and uses screws to attach two or more vertebrae together. The procedure stabilizes a spine that has narrowed (stenosis) or has a disc that is significantly degenerative, herniated or slipped (spondylolisthesis). Following surgery, a patient typically has a three- to five-day hospital stay at the Joint and Spine Center; recovery takes eight to 12 weeks and involves physical therapy.
Tumor removal
The surgeon excises tumors inside or outside of the spinal cord. Hospital of Central Connecticut surgeons can also remove tumors within the vertebrae, which can require extensive reconstructive surgery. Spinal tumors are rare and most often benign.
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