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Does the removal of spinal implants reduce back pain?
Hakan Ak1, Ismail Gulsen2, Tugay Atalay1
1Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Bozok University, Yozgat, Turkey.
Removing spinal implants may not alleviate back pain, even after successful fusion. Patients should be informed about the potential for persistent pain following instrumentation removal.
Area of Science:
- Spine surgery
- Orthopedic surgery
- Pain management
Background:
- Spinal implant removal is crucial for infection management.
- The efficacy of spinal implant removal for back pain relief remains uncertain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the benefits of removing spinal implants for managing back pain.
- Assessing the impact of spinal instrumentation removal on patient-reported pain.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective study involving 25 patients with thoracolumbar instrumentation.
- Analysis of pain scores (Visual Analog Scale - VAS) before and after implant removal.
- Spinal instruments were removed only after confirming fusion.
Main Results:
- Mean VAS decreased from 8.08 to 3.36 post-removal.
- Back pain persisted in 20% of patients (5/25), particularly those with prior recurrent lumbar disc herniation.
- No patient reported complete pain relief.
Conclusions:
- Spinal implant removal does not guarantee back pain reduction.
- Patients should be cautioned regarding potential persistent pain after instrumentation removal, even with successful fusion.
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