Failed back syndrome refers to persistent leg and/or lumbar back pain after a surgical procedure. The pathophysiology of this syndrome is complex, as often the operation was technically successful.
Terminology
Other names for failed back syndrome include failed back surgery syndrome, post-laminectomy syndrome, or post-surgical spine syndrome.
Pathology
Etiology
- recurrent or residual lumbar disc disease
- scar
- postoperative instability (at operative level or at non-operative level)
- instrumentation-related, e.g. nerve root irritation from pedicle screw
- wrong-level surgery
- lateral recess or central canal stenosis
- synovial cyst
- spinal dural arteriovenous fistula
- epidural abscess
- epidural hematoma
- infection
- arachnoiditis
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