Laminectomy

Lower back and neck pain are often the result of damaged spinal discs and bone spurs that painfully protrude into the spinal canal, causing excess pressure on the spinal cord or the nerves that radiate from it. A laminectomy is a spinal decompression surgery performed to alleviate that pain by removing the back part of the vertebra that covers the spinal canal known as the lamina in the affected area. Removing the lamina relieves pressure on the nerve roots and/or spinal cord and provides more space for them to heal and move freely. In some cases, a laminectomy may need to be performed to allow a surgeon to access and remove disc fragments as part of surgery to remove portions of a herniated disc (discectomy). Not to be confused with a laminotomy, the laminectomy is the total removal of lamina in the affected area, while the laminotomy is the partial removal of lamina.