Laminectomy is surgery to remove the lamina. This is part of the bone that makes up a vertebra in the spine. Laminectomy may also be done to remove bone spurs or a herniated (slipped) disk in your spine. The procedure can take pressure off your spinal nerves or spinal cord.

Lumbar decompression; Decompressive laminectomy; Spine surgery - laminectomy; Back pain - laminectomy; Stenosis - laminectomy

Laminectomy opens up your spinal canal so your spinal nerves have more room. It may be done along with a diskectomy, foraminotomy, or spinal fusion. You will be asleep and feel no pain (general anesthesia).

During surgery:

• You usually lie on your belly on the operating table. The surgeon makes an incision (cut) in the middle of your back or neck.
• The skin, muscles, and ligaments are moved to the side. Your surgeon may use a surgical microscope to see inside your back.
• Part or all of the lamina bones may be removed on both sides of your spine, along with the spinous process, the sharp part of your spine that you can feel.
• Your surgeon may remove any small disk fragments, bone spurs, or other soft tissue.
• Your surgeon may also do a foraminotomy at this time to widen the opening where nerve roots travel out of the spine.
• Your surgeon may do a spinal fusion to make sure your spinal column is stable after surgery.
• The muscles and other tissues are put back in place. The skin is sewn together.
• The surgery takes 1 to 3 hours.

Laminectomy is often done to treat spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal column). The procedure removes bones and damaged disks, and makes more room for your spinal nerve and column.

You may have the following symptoms:

• Pain or numbness in one or both legs
• Pain around your shoulder blade area
• Weakness or heaviness in your buttocks or legs
• Problems emptying or controlling your bladder and bowel

Symptoms may be more likely, or worse, when you are standing or walking. They can improve when you are leaning over.

You and your health care provider can decide when you need to have surgery for these symptoms. Spinal stenosis symptoms often become worse over time, but this may happen very slowly.

When your symptoms become more severe and interfere with your daily life or your job, surgery may help.

Risks of anesthesia and surgery in general are:

• Reaction to medicine or breathing problems
• Bleeding, blood clots, or infection

Risks of spine surgery are:

• Infection in wound or vertebral bones
• Damage to a spinal nerve, causing weakness, pain, or loss of feeling
• Partial or no relief of pain after surgery
• Return of back pain in the future
• Spinal fluid leak that can lead to headaches

If you have spinal fusion, your spinal column above and below the fusion is more likely to give you problems in the future.

You will have an x-ray of your spine. You may also have an MRI or CT myelogram before the procedure to confirm that you have spinal stenosis and its exact location. You may also have had spinal injections beforehand to determine the part of the spine that is giving you the symptoms.

Tell your surgeon or nurse if:

• You are or could be pregnant
• You are taking any medicines, including illicit drugs, supplements, or herbs you bought without a prescription

During the week before your surgery:

On the day of the surgery:

Your provider will encourage you to get up and walk around as soon as the anesthesia wears off, if you did not also have spinal fusion.

Most people go home the same day or 1 to 2 days after their surgery. At home, follow instructions on how to care for your wound and back.

You should be able to drive within a week or two and resume light work after 4 weeks, especially if you didn't have a fusion performed.

Laminectomy for spinal stenosis often provides full or some relief from symptoms.

Future spine problems are possible for all people after spine surgery. If you had laminectomy and spinal fusion, the spinal column above and below the fusion are more likely to have problems in the future.

You could have other future problems if you needed more than one kind of procedure in addition to the laminectomy (diskectomy, foraminotomy, or spinal fusion).

Published Date: November 07, 2024
Published By: C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, San Francisco, CA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

Casper DS, Maslak JP, Pelle D. Posterior cervical decompressions: cervical laminectomy and laminoforaminotomy. In: Steinmetz MP, Berven SH, Benzel EC, eds. Benzel's Spine Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 105.

Derman PB, Rihn J, Albert TJ. Surgical management of lumbar spinal stenosis. In: Garfin SR, Eismont FJ, Bell GR, Fischgrund JS, Bono CM, eds. Rothman-Simeone and Herkowitz's The Spine. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:chap 63.